


Claiming a Fortune and a Family

by ClaireLou



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Arguements aplenty, Arranged Marriage, Bens abit of an arse, Complete, Everyone has really good reasons for doing what they are doing, F/M, Family Secrets, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Getting away from a bad dad, Hot angry sex, If they told each other we wouldnt have a story, Lots Of Name Calling, Mills and Boon, Multi Chapter, Paying for it, Poorly child (nothing major), Pregnancy, Pregnancy Related Illness, Rey Solo, Rey has her reasons, Sharing a Bed, Sort Of, Sort of kidnapping, Unwanted husband, Unwanted wife, Why cant they just tell each other the truth, based on a book, but in a good way, minor dub-con, not forever though, sharing feelings is not easy, very good reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-07-08 23:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19877905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireLou/pseuds/ClaireLou
Summary: Rey Snoke has bent to her Fathers demands, Marry Billionaire Ben Solo and produce a Grandson. Both men have something to gain from this business deal. Ben Gets back a lost family treasure  and Reginald Snoke gains a legitimate Heir to the Snoke fortune. But what about Rey?Rey made Ben believe she was in it solely for the money, that was her only choice, the real reason is something she cant share until she provides a Grandson for her father.Being married to Ben Solo was supposed to be just a transaction, Baby then money, then island, but it was proving to be a little bit more. She needs to keep her secrets hidden, but that's so hard when the passion she shares with her husband makes her want to reveal everything.





	1. The Deal

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Guys, This AU is based on one of my favourite Mills and Boon Books - Price of a bride. I have read it so much its falling apart so I thought I would re-write it with a little bit of a Reylo twist so it can live forever hahaha  
> I hope you enjoy my version as much as I love the real one. Its likely to have 10 Chapters, but depending on how I rewrite the story that may go down or up.

The rain hadn’t stopped for 13 days, Rey was trying not to see it as a bad omen for what was to come. She watched the wind battering the trees in the grounds of the estate from the office window whilst trying to ignore the two obstinate men behind her hurling angry insults at each other in both English and Chandrilan.

Rey was trying her hardest to ignore them, she knew what they were fighting about, she also knew for one of the men it was futile. The lines had already been drawn and her presence here was simply that of baiting the bear. Her father had planned it that way.

“Solo, that is the deal” her father stated in a determined gasp. She could tell the last of his patience had been expended. “You take it or leave it; I do not plan to change my terms or haggle. So, you either accept it or walk out of this damned office right now”

“What you are proposing is both archaic and absurd” the other man threw back aggressively. “I am a business man, I’m not in the market for mail order brides, if you are struggling to marry her off that is your problem not mine. Marriage to me is not on the table”

Hmm, no? Rey smirked thinly to herself, in the reflection of the widow she could see the look of disgust Ben Solo was throwing in her fathers’ direction. She appreciated his attempts to defend this deal, but it would be for nought. Mr Solo would not be in this office at all if her father, Reginald Snoke, didn’t think he could both buy Solo and get rid of Rey all in one transaction.

Reginald Snoke was a clever and devious man and he knew the motivations of people well. He spent his business years climbing, well clawing his way to the top of the ladder. Stepping on the little guy with a devil may care attitude all the way to the top. He knew how to get what he wanted and devised meticulous plans enabling him to go in for the kill, figurately speaking. He left nothing to chance.

Ben Solo however was the complete opposite, he was charm personified, smooth, sleek and beautiful. The top rung of Chandrilan pedigree, he had been bringing his families old money back to the forefront of the business world after it had started to sink due to his grandfathers, Anakin Skywalkers, demise. He had been doing a pretty good job of it too, near enough completely reversing the Skywalker family name, the only thing left, the one thing reys father held was the return of the Island of Naboo. 

Unfortunately for Ben Solo, Reginald Snoke knew this was the last piece of the Skywalker puzzle and Ben would do whatever it took to restore the islands deeds to the family portfolio.

Rey felt sorry for him, truly she did. He may have brought this upon himself but her father would be ruthless and Reginald Snoke knew that this carrot dangled Infront of a Solo would get him what he desired. Ben Solo didn’t stand a chance of getting the Island of Naboo from Reginald Snoke for anything less than what he was demanding for it.

“If that is the case Mr Solo, then I’m afraid we have nothing more to discuss”

“I’m offering you triple of what that island is worth, you wouldn’t get that from anyone else”

“The door is over there…”

Rey straightened her spine; Mr solos next words would decide how this meeting would end. Rey knew there was only realistically one option but he still had the choice to walk out of here with his head held high and his fragile masculine pride firmly intact but with no island. Or…

“There has to be something else, another way...” He muttered.

Rey knew there wouldn’t be. Snoke did not need there to be another way so by sheer default there wasn’t one. The island of Naboo cost very little to keep it in its dilapidated state, he lost nothing to keep it from Ben Solo. He had called her father mercenary but rey knew that was only the tip of the iceberg in regards to Snoke.

Her father didn’t bother to answer the quiet plea, he sat with his hands steepled in front of him, waiting for Solo to make a choice.

“Damn you Snoke!” Rey could here the grudging surrender in his voice.

Rey felt the tension in the air increase as she heard her father stand from his chair. The old leather creaking and the legs grating across the floor. The sound usually filled her with dread, but tonight luckily, his sharp wit and attentions weren’t focused on her but the Chandrilan he had managed to beat. Snoke was a bully and had always been to anyone that crossed his path, man, woman, adult, child. Domination made no exceptions.

“Good, in that case Mr Solo I will leave you with my daughter to hash out the more intimate details” The emphasis on ‘intimate’ made her skin crawl. “You can speak to my lawyers tomorrow to iron out any last-minute questions, good evening” he concluded. With that her cold and cruel father left the room closing the office door behind him.

An eerie and difficult silence fell over the room, it was uncomfortable, but not only that she could feel the glare like acid on the back of her neck.

She hated this; she hadn’t wanted to be used as a pawn in the businessman’s game but alas here she was. She wouldn’t cry, her childhood made her stronger than that. At 23 years of age she knew better than to let the tears fall, they would achieve nothing with men like her father and Mr Solo. So, she resigned herself to attempting to fight with the big boys.

The sounds of glass chinking made her turn around finally, Ben Solo was helping himself to her father’s best Brandy.

“Its no Solo Whisky but it’ll do, Drink?” he tilted a glass towards Rey without looking up.

“No, thank you” she stayed where she was watching him pour a rather large tumbler of Brandy.

If she drank, she probably would have done the same. Drinking wasn’t really her forte anymore, she preferred to keep her wits about her in the family home. It was best that way. She couldn’t help the feeling of sympathy settling in her gut. Ben Solo had walked in here this afternoon full of confidence and superiority and was now coming to terms with the fact he’d been caught hook, line and sinker by the most ruthless business man in Coruscant. She was sure even the large dose of brandy wouldn’t wash that humiliation away.

She noticed his eyes glance to her, a crease deepening between them.

“You didn’t seem to have an awful lot to say there” he regarded her.

Rey shrugged “Better men than I and him have tried and failed” she countered

She was of course referring to him and he seemed to recognise the compliment for what it was . He tipped his chin in acknowledgment.

“You can’t be happy with this, or Maybe you are”

Happy? Ha. The word happy didn’t exist in Reys life. She wasn’t happy about this whole situation, she had resigned herself to it but no, not happy. 

“I’ll offer an explanation” She tried to sooth, “My father knows what he wants, knows what he needs to do to get it and never puts a plan into motion without categorically knowing all participants will bend to his will. That’s how he functions, how he has always functioned. If you are hoping for a softer deal from me, then you will be disappointed” She sighed “I’m sorry” she added on as an afterthought.

“So essentially what you are saying is you will sleep with whoever daddy tells you too?”

“I’m afraid, yes” she ignored the thinly veiled insult aimed at her, staying calm. There was no other choice really, she was long past the anger and offence of the whole situation.

It would seem however that Ben Solo was not, his face cycled through his emotions. All of them crossing his eyes, anger and distaste prevalent. She had essentially revealed herself to be a cheap, well actually an expensive tramp and he saw no reason to see her as anything else. She cursed her father for forcing her to play this part.

“Did you choose me yourself? Am I what you wanted?” he asked gruffly

She let a small laugh escape, shocked by the question, it broke the tension she felt in her head. A small release of pleasantness in the night from hell she was currently having.

“Oh no, you said it yourself, my father is a mercenary, I was allowed no choice. Never have been” She answered reflectively “A little conceited of you to ask though”

“I had to ask” stiffening minutely at the soft censure.

“It didn’t, it seems to me Mr Solo that you see yourself as the only victim of my fathers’ machinations. I can assure you sir that is not so” She solemnly confirmed. “Id like to remind you that though you may feel like the victim here, sometimes disasters bring out different levels of anguish”

“So, you’re just as much a victim of your fathers’ ruthlessness, that’s what you’re telling me?” the scepticism was clear in his tone. Her eyes darkened at that, if he knew her better, he would know to watch for that.

“I’m telling you nothing you shouldn’t have concluded already. We have merely been thrown into the ring. I don’t need to justify myself” She was unsure why she was attempting to defend herself to him. She had her reasons and he had his. It wasn’t like his were more honourable than hers. He was just looking for a scapegoat to blame for his own shortcomings from today’s meeting.

“Hmm” He eyed her cynically “You just have to sleep with a stranger”

Ah, so there it was, she was his scapegoat.

“It would appear so. I get it though, mine is the easier side of the bargain. I’m a woman, I have to lay down and take it. I can switch off; you however need to well…. perform. If you struggle to do that however due to my obviously reprehensible attitude” She looked at him pointedly “Then we really will have a problem”

She had shocked him; he had let his disinterested façade slip and his eyes belayed his emotion. He actually looked at her. Fully. For the first time tonight. He looked and actually saw her.

With a smile of satisfaction on her lips, she moved away from the window. She walked over to the fireplace, the glow highlighting the copper stands in her hair and brightening the freckles across her face. She felt his narrowed gaze follow her across the room, appraising the merchandise she surmised to herself. Well he was welcome to look, she had always been told she was a beauty, never felt it but she didn’t need to. She just needed the man across the room to value her on her beauty, she supposed it would make things a little easier in the long run.

Thankfully previous interactions with him allowed her to know how attractive he did find her, its what made his expression of distaste easier to swallow. She knew it was fake. She chose to sit to the right of the fireplace, placing Rey in the direct eyesight of Ben Solo. She could see the way his eyes dipped over her curves and down her bare legs. She had tried to maintain an air of defiance towards her father and chose a long-sleeved fitted dress instead of something revealing for this meeting. But now under his heated gaze she felt too warm and wished she had opted for something a little looser.

Don’t get her wrong, Ben Solo was no dogs dinner, there was attraction on both sides. He was tall, masculine and quite frankly as attractive as sin itself. Dark eyes, tousled dark hair and a profile to die for. She knows her father could have chosen worse. She thanks the force that Ben Solos wants proved beneficial to her father and therefore he was mixed up in this and not the other associates that had been through her father’s office recently.

“So...” She prompted “I assume you don’t have an issue in that area?” she smiled inwardly relishing the dig to his masculinity.

She saw the muscles in his shoulder tense and his jaw stiffen. He realised he had been caught staring at her.

“No, I don’t” He ground out

“Then it would appear the only problem lies in how much you want your lost island, bad enough to relinquish your bachelor status among the elite? “she mocked.

“My bachelor status as you so eloquently put it isn’t the only thing I’m having to relinquish though is it?” He threw back at her bitterly.

“It’s not” She agreed, smiling softly at him “But we can make it as short as possible as long as you produce pretty quickly”

His gaze narrowed on her, she could tell he didn’t like her tone, but right now she wasn’t really keen on him either. She would bed him as their contract insisted to gain what she needed.  
“So, what are your incentives for this may I ask?”

She wondered how he would react if she told him the truth, would he offer to help her or throw her away as well as this deal. At the end of the day he would gain his island back, Snoke would gain the grandson he wanted as an heir and hopefully she would gain what she had been trying to get back for years. They just needed to make it through this.

“Like you, I will gain something that was once lost to me”

His eyes clouded over and she could practically hear his brain jumping to conclusions. “Will I be told what that is?”

“No, that is my business and my business alone”

“If you are to be my wife then I believe the phrase is ‘What’s mine is yours...’” he claimed

“Am I?” Rey raised her eyebrows in challenge, he had yet to say the actual words to solidify the contract. 

“Why was it me?” The question came out of nowhere so suddenly Reys chin lifted to gaze straight at him. “If your father made the choice then why did it have to be me?”

Rey snorted “You’re serious?!” her eyes widened with incredulity “You remember the banquet 2 weeks ago, I walked into the room and you practically undressed me, then last week at the Empire Function you invited me to spend the weekend in the city with you?” she glanced at him, searching his face for recognition to his actions. “You did both of those things in front of my father, you weren’t even in the running at that point, you played your hand to hard. You went to the top of the list, as soon as my father realised, he held the deeds to the Skywalker island you were written into all of the contracts. I’m afraid you have no one to blame but yourself in that respect. I tried to warn you”

“So, your father really is your pimp then”

She supposed that was fair, she hit out at him and he hit back. Unfortunately for him, she knew how to win this war of words.

“If thinking of your wife as a whore helps you then by all means, but what would that make you.”

His whole body jerked as if she had slapped him. ‘Good’ she thought, he didn’t like his lot in this, she was right there with him but like hell she would take a verbal beating lying down.

She couldn’t resist adding more “As an added extra, you went through several other tests of approval. You were younger than the rest, helpful for producing an heir and more determined, not only to get me but to get your precious island. Your eagerness was your downfall”

She thought he would react to that but no, his mouth just twisted with wry understanding.

“May I ask what happens to the child once he has entered the world? Does he get presented to your father and we are both forgotten about?”

“Force no” she laughed again, “My father hates children in any capacity” her hitched voice betrayed her bitter experience “He simply just wants a male heir to leave everything to, a legitimate one” She added laconically “Unfortunately I cant just get one from anywhere, if that what you were hoping..”

“I’m not an idiot, pointless suggesting something that would lose what I intend to gain from this situation” he drawled.

“The child would lose more” She was referring to the Snoke fortune, it put most dynasty’s to shame “I however get full custody, that is my only stipulation. I care for nothing else but that will be written into the contract. I will not agree to anything less” She announced this with a lift to her chin, she would fight tooth and nail for this condition.

“So, I am to have no rights to my child?” He questioned tersely

“Of course, you will, you will have equal rights. The same as any father, but when our marriage is over, I get full custody”

“Why?”

Good question thought Rey and not one she could answer honestly.

“I mean, you have made it quite obvious you are a victim here too, so why do you want full custody to an unwanted child?”

“I want it and I will love it. Regardless of its beginnings, I will love this child. I will not resent him for how he came to be” She worked to keep her voice steady.

“You think I would?”

“You may not mean to Mr Solo, but you would” She said this with cast-iron certainty “This child would be a reminder of a failure, a necessary failure but none the less. Men like you don’t deal with failure well. So, I get full custody” Firmly, she confirmed what she had said earlier “You will get all legal rights afforded to you, well if you want them”

She missed the flash in his eyes and had she noticed it, his determined stride across the room would have been less intimidating but as it was, she could feel that she had set off something dangerous.

She tried to straighten her spine and she hoped he didn’t see the way her hands shook before she folded her arms.

“You stand there thinking you hold the high ground, claiming to know the kind of man I am- You don’t know me at all! My son...” he raised his hands to grip her wrists “He will be my heir also”

His possessiveness shocked her but so did the effect the touch was having on her body. His possessiveness struck directly to her heart and squeezed the air from her lungs. She gasped uncertainly.

“My son will be mine and will remain with me, regardless of who or what his mother wants” he vowed “Even if it means I stick us both in a loveless unhappy marriage”

Despite the hatred radiating off him Rey squared her jaw and asked “So we are to marry?”  
“Yes, we will do everything this contract demands of us, every sordid disgusting term” he seethed “But don’t fool yourself into thinking I will enjoy it” 

“Then get off me and don’t touch me again until it is necessary” She replied coldly

She yanked her hands from his grip and walked back towards the desk. Determined to put space between them. She glared out of the window, hoping the raging storm outside would stop her erupting inside. It did not work. She couldn’t stop the words, though she wished she could as she knew once she said them, she had dug herself further into her lie.

“You stand there thinking you have superior motives, but you do not. You have your price, the same as my father … the same as myself! We all have our crosses to bare!”

“And what exactly is your price?” he responded acidly “maybe you have a reason I can at least attempt to respect you for?”

She recognised the hope in his voice, he wanted a reason to not despise the transaction between them. Through his anger he wanted to believe in her. Unfortunately, she could never utter the truth so she would have to lie and dissolve any hope she had of gaining an ally in this endeavour. She wished she could but the risk was worth too much, so she lied.

“Money. What else does a girl need?”

“Money…” he repeated slowly, the look in his eyes confirmed that he could think even less of her than she thought possible.

“The day my father gets his Grandson, I receive 5 million pounds” She carried on “No better, no worse than selling my seed for an ancient rock”

She could see him connecting the dots to the similarities between them. He would get what he wanted and she would get what she wanted but it would not be what she had just lied about.

“It’s your choice if you want to be stuck with me for life, you see I don’t care, me and my child will be wealthy in our own rights and will never be dependant on you or my father again” Derisively she added “ however we will see how strong your conviction is, being married to be will be no picnic and it wont be long before the walls close in”

He laughed then “You think I will be trapped by this marriage, think again” He looked at her with disdain “I will not change one single aspect of my life just to be shackled to you. I will have every freedom I have now”

The meaning of his words began to sink in and Reys stomach dropped at the implication. His contempt practically spat in her face.

“I have a mistress in Bowmea, I am very happy with her and what she offers to me” Each word was like a dagger to reys defiance, “I will continue to use her services and will not be discreet, your feelings matter little to me on this” he warned. “I will bed you as often as is necessary but once the deed has been completed do not think I will allow you to walk off into the sunset with my son”

Rey held herself higher and stared right at him “Then the deal is off” She would use every tactic her father employed to get what she wanted from this deal. For the light at the end of the tunnel of this nightmare was the only thing making it worthwhile.

“Enjoy telling your father that” He smirked “You are afraid of him, it’s obvious”

“Though that may be so, you want only what he has on offer more than my child” She countered “You can agree to my terms or this whole deal is off. Need I remind you that you were not the only name on my father’s list”

To her complete satisfaction, he balked and his handsome face exposed his frustration. “You are a cold-blooded bitch, your father taught you well”

Rey could taste the disdain radiating from him, the air was electric with his loathing to the situation and probably herself.

“I will speak to my lawyers in the morning, I will have a decision by noon” he responded. He walked determinedly to the door.

“E…Excellent” Rey tried to hide the stammer in her voice, but knew she failed when his eyes met hers in victory.

“Your father is going to be less than pleased that you nearly lost this isn’t he?” He sneered 

Rey shrugged softly “He knew my requirements, he left us alone so I could relay them to you privately, he already has you caught.”

Take that you bastard! Contempt dripping on both sides of the table. His hand that had started to turn the door handle slipped noisily from it as he turned slowly. He started to prowl back towards the desk, not stopping in front of it but circling to reys side. Her heart started to hammer. She looked up; he was tall, taller than even her 5”7 frame. She tilted her face to maintain eye contact. He lifted his hand to her cheek, softly lowering it until he held her chin in his hand.

“You are close to pushing me too far, why is that?” He peered directly into her eyes.

She gulped, watching as his eyes traced the movement “I don’t know”

“I think I do” He waited for no response, simply showing her what he meant. His hand wrapped around the back of her neck and he brought his lips forcefully down to hers. Kissing her harshly, there seemed to be no passion just a simple transaction and proof of his power. He pulled away slowly, looking into her eyes knowingly. So, what if she had licked the seem of his mouth, so what if her hands had gripped onto the front of his shirt.

“Why?” she rasped

“I wanted to know if you tasted as evil as you act” He replied mockingly “I find myself surprised that you do not, in fact I enjoyed your taste so much I would like a little more”

And he did exactly that, his lips lay waste to the space between them and Rey found herself being pushed back against the desk. She gasped and he took the opportunity to enter her with his tongue sweeping sinuously into her mouth. His hands dragged down to her hips, sliding closer to where he could position his leg between her parted thighs.

She was shocked at the intrusion but also at how her body was responding. A tingling sensation down her spine and a fire erupting into the pit of her stomach, perhaps even lower. She grabbed his hair firmly, pulling him closer, grinding hard against upper thigh. The kiss turned raw and passionate, both taking and giving exactly what they wanted. Until he pulled away with a deep laugh, it was like ice to her veins and her cheeks flared red in humiliation.

“What a surprise” He drew away cockily “Our back and forth was affecting me, I had no idea it would have the same effect on you. Adds a little bit a depth to our predicament doesn’t it?”

Rey stepped back.

“Lie down and take it hmm? I think not. You might just enjoy this as much as I Rey Snoke”

“I never said I wouldn’t enjoy it” She answered stiffly

“Yes, I can see that. Does your father know you respond so eagerly? Maybe then he wouldn’t have thought to pay a man for the pleasure”

She turned to him hotly “Not just any man remember Mr Solo, the one he chose” She raised her chin again and though her body remembered his touch her eyes spat defiance. “Remember that you are not my personal choice, but I guess I will enjoy making my 5 million pounds”

She may as well have punched, he stepped back as utterly disgusted as anyone could be in her. She wished she could take it back, almost. But he deserved it. 

“I will call you with my decision tomorrow” He answered without looking at her whilst he made a quick exit. 

“You will be dealing with my father, not me”

“I will speak to you tomorrow” He repeated “I will deal personally with you; your father will be speaking to my lawyers” He opened the door turning to look at her.

“Until tomorrow Rey”

With that the door closed and a small sob escaped her lips.


	2. The Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone hates each other a little bit in this chapter. It gets better, slowly, but it does get better.

Rey sat at the dining room table, staring at the still full bowl Infront of her. She had watched Ben Solo speed down the driveway last night and then made a quick exit to her bedroom. Not wishing to see or hear her father until she had her emotions better in check.

As if the thought of him was enough to summon him, her father entered the dining room.

“Did you get it done?” He asked 

“I made him aware of my terms, he said he would contact me today whether he agreed to them or not” She replied, refusing to meet her fathers gaze. She was swallowing down the tears threatening, like she always does. Though this time not through fear but through the realisation of the woman she had been forced to pretend to be Nothing like the real Rey Snoke.

Her father sat heavily down across from her, linking his fingers in front of him. “Do not spoil this for me Rey” he warned menacingly “You know the consequences for this failure”

“You taught me well, he already knows he has lost. He will agree to my terms and by reflection yours as well, he has no choice” Her answering smile was bleak. Her father had taught her well and that’s why she knew she wanted to be nothing like him.

“Nor do you”

“He isn’t aware of that though, is he!” Not a question but a statement. There had been no need Reginald Snoke knew exactly what had transpired in that room. Well almost.

“Ah so you can at least attempt to follow my instructions” sighed her father with great satisfaction.

“You warned me not to, I know the consequences” she parroted his earlier threat back at him.

“So, what does he think is motivating you to fuck him?” She cringed at the crass language. This was nothing new from her father but it still made her skin crawl the emphasis he put on the word.

“A simple sum of 5 million pounds upon delivery of my son” she informed him.

“Hmm, it’s a good round figure. Though more than you are worth” he grimaced.

“I figured it did truly make me look the expensive whore you wanted me to be”

“Oh darling, you have always been a whore. Expensive or cheap, you’ll spread you legs for anyone. At least this time I profit from it” Snoke murmured vulgarly.

He stood up from the table at that point, he had stated his opinion of her and made sure to ram home the implications of the deal. She wished she could reply, make him aware of her exact feelings towards this whole deal. Towards her father and Ben Solo. Both of them should be ashamed of their parts in this, though one she could forgive, male pride and true family values had blinded him.

Still, neither man would be allowed to have full control over her child. She already had that in written form from her father, signed and sealed in her possession. She just needed assurance from Mr Solo pertaining to the same.

“If you have messed this up Rey and he refuses” her father posed the question “What will you do then?”

“I’m sure you’ll find another man on that extensive list to bed me and provide you a grandson”

She noticed the gleam in her fathers’ eyes, already sickened before his mouth opened. “The next name on that list is Andrew Maul” he reminded her “Would you be happy to let him touch you, do what needs to be done?” he drawled.

Andrew Maul was an old, cruel man. Probably both older and crueller than even her father. The thought of him touching her in any capacity made her sick to her stomach but she couldn’t truly let her father know the extent of distaste. He would change the plan regarding Mr Solo just to see Rey suffer.

“I’m a whore father, I’ll simply close my eyes and think of better things. Like the party I will throw when you are dead” She smiled purposely at him.

He laughed; she was unsurprised. Her opinion of him never mattered, she never mattered to him. She had only ever been a reminder of her mother, no one was sure if she was truly even Reginald Snokes daughter. The same was said for her older brother Armitage, but he had been male so Snoke was willing to accept him as his own.

“Well, if all goes well this afternoon” she tossed at him “I’m going to go see Jade at school, let her know I won’t be around a lot for the next year or so”

“You will tell her nothing other than what is needed” he warned

“I’m a whore father, not an idiot” rey replied acidly “I just don’t want her to think she has been abandoned, I won’t raise her hopes to have them dashed again” The meaning blatantly obvious. If she raised Jades hopes her father would find a way to bring them crashing down. As was always his way.

“Don’t think she will be visiting you in Chandrilla either. You may be soft enough to make promises that I have no intention of keeping, so don’t bother” With that last word, he turned and left the dining room.

Rey would never have tried to placate her. She knew her father would never allow the small 6-year-old an ounce of happiness, her childhood was shaping up to be as bad as Reys had. For which she felt terrible, the only thing standing between Jade and her father was Rey herself and soon she would be gone. Not forever but for long enough to make Jade suffer. She just hoped Ben Solo wanted his Island as much as her father believed. His need was the only thing that would get her what she wanted.

She got up, taking her uneaten breakfast to the kitchen. As she finished rinsing the bowl the kitchen phone began to ring, her father had obviously diverted the office phone. She picked up the receiver with damp hands.

“Hello? Rey Snoke speaking”

“Be at my office by noon, my lawyers have drawn up a suitable contract for you to sign” His efficient lack of words showed every bit of contempt he held for her.  
CLICK

The phone went dead. Rey sighed, she hadn’t even needed to ask who it was and he obviously had no need to wait for a reply. 

“I guess we best get this show on the road” She whispered quietly and reassuringly to herself.

At 12 o’clock exactly, Rey stood in the foyer of ‘Skywalker Brewery Inc’s head office. She had dressed as professionally as she could. Light grey pinstripe trousers, a pleated white blouse and matching Grey blazer. She was the epitome of business elegance, her hair styled into her signature 3 buns, no stray hairs visible from the tight style. She wore no make-up barring a small amount of light blush lipstick, all understated professional beauty.

She hadn’t tried overly hard but she knew it wasn’t really required. She was tall and from all accounts a very beautiful woman, lightly bronzed skin with a smattering of freckles, legs that even her trousers couldn’t hide the length of. She knew her looks assisted her as well as the curve of her hips and the small swell of breasts that required no help. All that, added to her clothing choice made sure people stopped and stared at her when entering a room.

That is what Ben Solo had fallen for much to his detriment. His downfall had started from the moment he saw her at the banquet, he had seen the outside and desired it. Let everyone know about it, including her father. Hidden his intentions from no one, maybe he hoped to flatter the daughter to get closer to Snoke, a shame he didn’t realise she held no sway to her father unless as a means to an end. 

She had warned Mr Solo, tried to head him off, tried to freeze him out when he came over to speak to her in her father’s presence. His persistence had been arrogant, she was unsure what he had truly been hoping to gain but had he have played it cool and remained aloof, none of this would be happening. Well none of it to him. She would still be living the nightmare that was her life.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how she chose to look at it she did also find Ben Solo attractive, which could possibly be her downfall. She needed a man to father a child, someone easy to walk away from, but as it stood Ben Solo was too young, too attractive and too confident wielding the power he did. This was a man who could hurt her when the time came and she had been hurt enough by men like him. But here she was.

Both of them about to pay the consequences for attraction. Rey paused to look around. The building was spectacular. The Skywalker legacy had started in some back water town of Tatooine, selling illegally made alcohol that had now turned into a thriving empire, there had been a glitch a generation or so ago when the Skywalker patriarch had attempted to join his company with Palpatine Distillery, it had ended poorly for all involved and they had just about been breaking even until Ben Solo had come of age and brought the Brewery Giant back up to its former glory.

It had only taken him 10 years to achieve, Rey appreciated his dedication and it was obvious from the interior of the building that to the victor goes to spoils. All except for that last little island, she had no idea how her father had come to own that, though she imagined he had gone in for the kill when Leia Organa Solo had been selling assets to keep the business afloat. Probably paid rock bottom prices for it as well, he probably had never even envisaged how useful the useless rock would become to him in the future. That is until Ben Solo started to rebuild the company’s reputation, profit margins increased exponentially and Reginald Snoke heard rumour of Ben Solo proudly stating that he would get his families island back. Snoke would have sold it back to him at a price of his choosing, now however he had a whole different plan.

“Excuse me, I’m here to see Ben Solo” Rey informed the petite woman behind the desk at reception “My name is Rey Snoke”

“Yes, Miss Snoke, Mr Solo has been expecting you” The young woman didn’t even look at her but pointed towards the lift to her left. “Take the lift to the 5th Floor, someone will meet you there” With that she went back to her computer and ignored any further attempt from Rey.

Rey moved gracefully to the lift and pressed the button to take her up to the top floor of the building. She straightened her suit jacket in the mirrored walls and noticed one side of the lift had nothing but a large ingrained image onto it. She turned around to peer closer. It was quite a beautiful image, a cluster of small buildings around a larger one. Looking towards it she saw a small area of beach off to the right, a picturesque area of shoreline containing a little boat surrounded by beautiful trees. Towards the larger building lay an area of colourful flowers, painted delicately and in a small clearing she could make out striking white lines, they looked almost like gravestone. An Odd addition she thought to herself. Vary Kino is what the picture was titled.

“Miss Snoke?”

Rey turned around sharply, she hadn’t realised the lift had stopped and the doors had opened. The voice had come from a tall statuesque woman with perfectly quaffed lavender hair. She had been eyeing Rey coldly when she met her gaze, she obviously knew why she was here today. As did the man standing directly beside her. He stood a little shorter than the woman but still seemed equally as imposing, a look of derision on his face. It seemed her reason for being here was popular knowledge

“Yes” Rey confirmed confidently with a raise of her chin, she would not be judged.

The man stiffened in surprise, something flashed in his eyes at the challenge in Reys words. He appraised her up and down and it would appear he found her lacking, in something, she didn’t know what.

“And you are?” She levelled her gaze on him and enquired crisply. Their eyes clashed.

“Poe Dameron Solo” he informed her “My brothers office is this way…” he motioned for her to follow. “Thank you Amilyn” The lavender haired lady returned to her seat at a large bronze marbled desk.

The brother? she wasn’t aware of another Solo heir, her own fault really. She hadn’t done much digging into the family tree, Ben Solo was the target no one else. She didn’t need to know more. She followed Poe to a set of closed double doors, he paused briefly before giving a short knock and entering the room beyond.

Rey took a deep steadying breath, a fresh attack of nerves hit her but she aimed to push through them, she couldn’t let decisions be made without her. She knew that her father was sure that they would both go through with the deal. Rey for what would be returned to her and Ben Solo for the Island, regardless of how much they would hate themselves and each other for it.

Rey heard both brothers murmuring between themselves before Poe moved aside and let Rey enter the room to where his brother awaited. She steeped confidently forward, even if a little reluctantly. Instead of finding herself amongst a room full of lawyers, she found only Ben Solo. Sat at his desk alone with the light from the window glinting through his raven coloured hair.

Behind her the door closed, leaving her alone with Ben Solo. She glanced back to the door wishing she could have followed Poe through it. She faced Ben Solo with a tight knot wound into her stomach, knowing she would soon have lie and share intimacy with the man in front of her.

“Nice suit, I believe it’s called power dressing, unfortunately the attempt is lost on myself”

His first words to her were startling, she didn’t expect his plan of attack to involve her attire. She looked down to herself, she hadn’t been trying to dress to impress. It dawned on her then that he had misinterpreted her suit, it wasn’t for him but for her visit to Jades school after this meeting. He could believe whatever else he wanted though; it wasn’t her problem.

“When you marry me...” He drawled “I expect you to dress more appropriately. My wife does not need to dress like a man, it is rather a turn-off”

“If I marry you” Rey corrected, and moved towards the desk. She sat herself down in the black leather chair. “Your brother doesn’t look like you?” She observed, not really sure if she had meant the subtle question.

He seemed annoyed by her line of thought “Wondering if your father chose the wrong brother?”

She smiled weakly “No not really, but maybe it would be worth checking if he’s a better fit, before I commit myself to you. He seems sweet” It was a blatant lie, the whole sentence that she had muttered but she took great pleasure in seeing the way it riled Ben Solo up.

“He is off limits” He threatened “He is also married to a creature he utterly adores and would never enter into something like this” anger lacing his answer.

“What a shame. Well I suppose you will have to do” She sighed dramatically.

With that little hit to his ego, she awaited his next move. To her surprise his mouth twitched, she suspected it suppressed a smile. Appreciation for her response glinting in his eyes. They both knew that realistically he was the better brother, in looks even if not in charm.

He picked up a folder and handed it abruptly over to Rey “A contract my lawyers drew up this morning” Rey nodded. “I suggest you read it completely and thoroughly”

“I intend to” She proceeded to lower her head to the file and ignore him whilst she immersed herself into the details written in front of her. 

It was a well-drawn out document, it set out the guidelines to this sham of a marriage succinctly. Point by point, it started to read like a prenuptial agreement rather than a contract. It had declarations of an allowance, a monthly sum to allow her to buy what she wanted, an amount that would be surrendered to her upon the end of a marriage, it was a pittance but she expected nothing more, needed nothing more. He expected she would be rich in her own right, for her he could keep believing that. 

Around the third page it started to turn nasty, less prenuptial agreement more prison schedule. She would live where he said, sleep where he said and would go nowhere without a person he named as chaperone.

She would submit to him, sexually, whenever he wanted….

Rey could feel him watching her, he probably knew where about in the contract she was. He was waiting for a response; well he could keep waiting. To her the clause seemed unnecessary, they were only marrying for sex anyway and once a child was conceived it would end.

He made sure to include that she would behave a certain way, the perfect wife, the perfect marriage. On the outside. He would keep a mistress, she read grimly on, not surprised at all. The only thing that bothered her was that the lawyers that drew this up were privy to such intimate details of her life. She wanted to cringe at the humiliation but wouldn’t. She swallowed down the shame.

In the event of her falling pregnant she would not be allowed on Chandrilan soil without his express permission. His son would be born a Chandrilan. She was relieved to see her stipulation that she have full custody written into the contract, however her stomach dropped at his own proviso. If he ended the marriage, she kept full custody, if she chose to end the marriage, she forfeited all rights to her son.

“I will not agree to that” She protested.

“You have no choice” he replied, he leant back in his chair “You think I would relinquish the rights to my child so easily. I am safeguarding his future and mine against you if you decide you don’t want to live in this marriage anymore. At least this way we are both covered”

He smirked at her; he could probably see the panic within her eyes.

“See it this way, if I can’t stand to have you as my wife, I end the marriage knowing I lose my son. If you can’t stand me as your husband then you also lose your son. Can’t say fairer than that really”

Could she say fairer than that, she felt like on the surface it was fair but it didn’t sit right with her. There was something she was missing but, in the end, would it really matter. She never wanted to marry anyway, there was only one thing she wanted and it wasn’t a man, so if Ben Solo wanted her as a wife for life then he could have her.

She made it to the end and closed the document, looking up at Ben.

“Would you like to make any additions?” 

Rey shook her head, she needed to safeguard nothing within this agreement. Anything important would be between her and her lawyer alone. Getting to her feet, she placed the document into her bag.

“I’ll get my fathers lawyers to look this over”

“No” Rey stopped from turning towards the door, their eyes clashed and in his she saw uncompromising coldness. “This is between us, just us. Any agreements between you, your father and your father and me will be separated but this, this stays between us”  
“But”

“Sign here and now, or as you once put it the deal is off”

“Mr Solo you can’t expect me to sign this without someone doublechecking it, I’m not a fool” She protested.

“Give me the name of your lawyers, I’ll call them. They can come here, but let it be known that not a single word will be changed on that contract…. So, like I said before sign now or not at all” with a shrug of his shoulders the ball was back in her court.

Well, Rey thought to herself. She gazed at the man across from her, he knew what kind of woman she was or thought he did and his contempt was clear. He was going to make her pay in every way he could for being part of the plan to bring him to his knees.

Just like her father, she thought morosely. Maybe that’s why her father had chosen Ben Solo, he saw himself in the younger man and saw the ability for Rey to be tormented by her husband just as badly as she had been by her father. Resignation settled over her.

“Is the 5 million really worth it?” He prodded silkily.

“Yes” She said, dropping the contract back onto his desk. “I was considering calling your bluff, but quite frankly I don’t care enough and I have somewhere else to be” She raised her chin and looked him in the eye. “Where do I sign?”

It took almost the whole drive to Jades school for her to come to terms with the humiliation of the situation. She should have guessed that baiting him would not be well received, consigning him to second place in her plans for the day had made her feel good but he had not taken it sitting down. Quite literally.

He had called his lawyers into the room, they had obviously been waiting in the wings, he had punished her by introducing her to them as ‘the woman so desperate to have my child she’s paying for it’. That had stung, it had been unnecessary and cruel but she supposed it was tit for tat. They watched on as they both signed the contract.

His eyes mocked her as her cheeks reddened, that wasn’t the final humiliation though, once the lawyers had left. He had turned swiftly from the door and stalked to her side. 

Grabbing the back of her neck, he captured her mouth in his, he was precise and not gentle. The kiss wasn’t quite the same as last nights, this went further and more aggressive. He was staking his claim, she realised that all too late. She had stood there in his arms, a fire igniting all of her senses, she had whimpered and moaned into his mouth. Craving more and pulling him closer, like he was a life raft in the ocean. She needed him in that moment.

How had she not realised what he was doing? It was a final nail in her pride for the afternoon. Round 2 to him, she wasn’t sure if she had even really won the first.

She could still feel the ghost of his lips on her and here the sinful words he had muttered as his mouth moved to her collarbone, she had sighed and clutched to him harder. The one redeeming thing from the encounter was that he also was not unaffected by her. She remembered his body pushing into hers, hips aligning, the flare of male arousal obvious through her clothes. She had ground against him and heard the responding growl. They devoured each other, until her senses had returned and she realised what she had been doing. Pushing him away she glared, though in her current state it probably wasn’t as intimidating as she liked.

He spun away from her, raising his hand to the back of his neck. “Cover yourself” 

She looked down at herself, noticing that in their haste to mark each other he had pulled her shirt apart and her lace covered breasts were on full show. She hastily covered herself back up.

“Why would you do that?” She whispered

“That’s what you signed up for, you read the contract” He countered.

Humiliation crawled through her, she felt sick “I hate you”

“As I you, but we can agree that it will certainly make sex more interesting” 

How had it come to this, Rey thought to herself. She had fallen so far. Remembering the next part of their conversation made her pull her car over and steady her breathing. For a brief second she thought he knew and that would have destroyed everything.

“Can’t say I’m surprised really, I heard you were quite the rebellious party girl in your teens, younger than you should have been”

She had stopped stock still, he couldn’t know, she had hidden it well. But the fact he mentioned her teenage years had her keeping any smart retort to herself. Instead she softly said “I’m not like that”

“Now perhaps, certainly not whilst you will be married to me. Whilst you have my name you will behave in appropriate manner befitting your status. I will not accept the chance of raising a bastard child because you couldn’t curve an appetite” He practically spat the last part at her.

Her heart sank further at his declaration, she would never sleep around, regardless of what he had heard she wasn’t that person. Not even when she was younger had she been that way, but her father had made an excellent effort at tarring her reputation to who he needed to. 

She had nodded in understanding

“I’m glad you understand Rey Snoke, because if you cross me you will wish you had never heard the name Solo. Now go to your prior engagement, we will marry in 2 days.

“2 days…?” She gasped “that’s not...” That was as far as she got.

“2 days is plenty of time, there is no reason to hang around. The sooner this is started the better, and now I know how you respond to me I’m eager to see how loud I can make you scream” he gazed up her body wolfishly “I’ll make sure its worth your 5 million, then I can get what’s owed to me”

The threat in his voice had been unmistakable and though she had hated it, it didn’t scare her. She just had to wait this out, he would tire of her, tire of the life they had created. He would get his island back and then throw her away and that is when she would win, she would have her son and the thing she wanted back most. Something that meant more to her than an ancient rock being traded for his DNA.

She restarted her car and after a final deep breath, she drove the rest of the way to Jades School.

Jade, as always was ecstatic to see her. A bundle of loving energy. But the 6-year-old had broken down and sobbed uncontrollably when Rey had told her about the next year. 

She had pulled the small child onto her knees and held her close, stroking her hair she had shushed her. Whilst waiting for the girl to finish sobbing Rey held back her own tears. 

“It will only be for a year or two sweetie” She kept her voice steady “I will visit whenever I can as often as I can.”

“It’s not the same” the child protested “Chandrilla is so far away, I will be alone. Alone with Daddy”

The panic in the child’s voice threatened to break Reys resolve, it broke her heart to do this but at the end, everything would be better. For everyone.

“Mrs Phasma will be there, you like her and she loves you. She will make sure you do plenty of fun things” It was the only saving grace to this situation. 

Gwen Phasma had been in the Snoke employ for many years; she provided the childcare her father couldn’t be bothered with. She had helped shape Rey, trying to keep her safe from her fathers’ abuses. Rey knew Phasma would protect Jade in Reys absence the best she could.

“It’s not the same” Jade repeated “You won’t be there, daddy hates me. You know he does; he hates you too” She began to sob again.

Out of sheer desperation to calm down the child, Rey held her face in her hands.

“I promise to call you every week, we can tell each other everything that’s happened”

“Really?”

“I promise” Rey vowed. Jade smiled eagerly at her and threw her arms around Reys neck.

“I love you sweetheart” she whispered thickly “You are the most important thing to me; it will all work out”

Rey had left Jade with promises of visits and sending her souvenirs from her new home. It had made her smile and for that Reys guilt eased a little. By the time she had made it home, it was dark and Phasma had been waiting for her in the kitchen. 

“Your father told me to let you know he had flown to Jakku, he won’t be back before you leave. Why are you leaving Rey?” Phasma looked weary and a little sad.

Though the exact details of the deal had been kept under wraps, Phasma knew enough, that didn’t make Rey feel any better about it all. She used the last of her limited strength to come up with a decent explanation.

“I’ll be living in Chandrilla for the next year or so, you will keep her safe wont you? I’m marrying Ben Solo; I have to do it. To make it better for us all”

“I wish you didn’t have to do this Rey; you deserve so much more than this Mr Solo” Phasma exclaimed with resignation.

“I know Gwen” Reys voice broke “It’s just for a year or two. He wants to be married in 2 days, I’m sure I’ll be gone by the 3rd. Promise to keep her safe Gwen please”

“I always do, I’ll keep her away from him as much as I’m able”

Rey sighed with relief, she trusted Rey with her life and that little girl came even before that. “Thankyou”

“By the way, that future husband of yours has been calling all afternoon, increasingly irritated with every call. I don’t like him. What should I say if he calls again?”

“Tell him to leave a message then go to hell” With that Rey left the kitchen, slowly advancing to her room. This day needed to go to hell just like Ben Solo. She threw herself on to her bad and screamed into her pillow until she fell asleep.

Tomorrow would hopefully be marginally better.


	3. The Plea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets pretty heated. Everyone still pretty much hates each other. There is however smut to be had. Angry sex is a thing.  
> Warning/Spoiler in the end note. Some Dub-Con but not really.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Reys insides jumped, she had been avoiding this for 2 days, her eyes glanced sideways to the dark suited figure to her right. She had entered the back door of the expensive car to take her to the airport. Earlier that morning she had been picked up and driven to the registry office. She had met Bens gaze briefly and then they had said their vows. The ceremony had been quick and thoughtless, no declarations of love or undying devotion. Just a transfer of ownership. They had said nothing more to each other until they were both seated together in private heading to Ben Solos private plane.

Ben looked tense; she felt the same. She had fielded as many of his calls as she could, she did not want to speak to him, not just through rudeness alone. She was trying to reconcile her feelings towards him with the task that lay ahead.

“I had things to do, you didn’t really give me much time” she replied, whilst nervously twisting her gold wedding band.

“Well I had things I needed to confirm with you” He spat back.

“Mrs Phasma answered your questions. I’m sure she was quite thorough” Rey deflected coolly. How arrogant was he. She was moving her entire life for this; he had given her 48 hours to wrap everything up. It hadn’t been easy and she was still suffering through the gigantic migraine she had developed yesterday. 

“Ignore me again and there will be consequences” he muttered.

Threats. It always comes down to threats. Rey was used to that. She wasn’t bothered by his consequences though, what more could she have taken from her. She shrugged and averted her gaze to out of the window. Ignoring the man sat next to her.

It was a little odd though, he was so gruff and filled with hatred whenever he spoke to her. Their 2 previous kisses had been aggressive and yet when they had been looking at each other repeating their predetermined vows, his eyes softened minutely and when the officiant asked them to kiss, he had grazed her lips softly and chastely. To anyone observing them, you probably would have believed it was a loving embrace. Unfortunately, they both knew the truth. She wondered why? Why would he act so softly towards her when it didn’t really matter? Maybe his Chandrilan upbringing forbid him from being a complete monster on a woman’s wedding day.

She smiled to herself. Wouldn’t that be funny, the Ben Solo she had come to know acting chivalrous. She couldn’t match the two together.

“Why the smile?” 

Ah, he was looking at her. “No particular reason” She lied “just wondering if my fathers enjoying his holiday, celebrating getting us this far”

“He’s not on holiday” He glanced on her impassively “He’s been with a mistress in the city centre since I signed his contract. I guess he wanted to get out of both of our ways, in case we started asking awkward questions about each other’s motivations”

She twisted to face him stiffly, her body rigid. He delivered that information in such a snake-like manner that she inwardly gulped.

“You can’t have agreed to anything else about me without my say so” She said shakily, not really sure if that would be true.

“No, we didn’t, but we did discuss your little sister…” 

No, he couldn’t have. He wouldn’t. Her heart began to sink, this was not good.

“He wanted to let me know how much of a bad influence you are on her. Turning her against her father. He thinks your jealous...” He had continued talking whilst Rey had entered a state of panic. “We agreed that whilst you live with me, you are to have no contact with … Jade is it? He doesn’t want you making her life miserable”

She knew it had been too good to be true, Ben may not know everything, but her father had done a brilliant job of getting Rey out of Jades life. Rey pressed her lips together firmly, crossing her arms tightly, trying to keep herself from falling apart. Her father had succeeded in truly taking away Jade, the only light she had in her life. It was a double-edged sword, by restricting contact with Jade her father was basically telling her to hurry up and deliver a grandson, it was a warning. Do your job or else.

“Is that why he married you off to the highest bidder?” He asked resentfully “To get you out of your sisters’ life?”

“You didn’t buy me, you were bought” She hit back at him “Don’t forget that! You were bought for an heir”

“You missed my point” He replied sharply “I was simply letting you know that I now know why your father was willing to give you 5 million pounds”

“And a Greek island” She reminded him, “I wonder how much that was worth in cash hmm?” Rey then added brutally.

His face hardened towards her; he didn’t like the reminder. They were both as bad as each other, selling their souls to her monster of a father in return for something they both wanted.

She felt the car stop, he pushed his hand through his hair and opened the door, “We’re here” with that he exited the car. 

20 minutes later Rey was sat in the passenger area of a plush private plane. The sleek black leather and chrome interior seemed strangely comforting. Her new husband had entered the cockpit and not come out since; the air hostess had also not bothered her. She figured maybe they had been warned not to interact with her. It didn’t bother her in the slightest. After the plane had taken off, she had made herself comfortable and started to read her favourite novel. It would keep her mind of everything, and seeing as her husband seemed to be the one flying them to her new home, she spent the time relaxed.

Once the plane landed however her peace was interrupted, Ben came out of the cockpit looking a little more casual. His tie was loose and his jacket was missing. She eyed him appreciatively, he was a terrible person but he was still pretty damn hot. 

She reached his eyes and realised that he too had been appraising her body, she had changed into a pale cream maxi dress after the ceremony. It covered a lot of skin but stuck quite close to her curves, a long slit up one thigh. His eyes travelled across her uncovered thigh and slowly back to her face.

“Where are we?” 

“At the estate in Chandrilla, or at least the adjoining air strip. We will be there in 10 minutes after a short drive. I won’t be keeping this for long obviously. Once I get the family island back, we will live there” He told her.

The family island, Rey was reminded again what this situation was worth to him. A dry lump formed in her throat. She was surprised when he continued to talk but in a much different tone.

“That dress looks really nice on you, makes your skin glow” He whispered huskily. 

She hadn’t bought the dress for any particular reason other than for the weather she knew Chandrilla was famous for. Hot but very windy. Her cotton dress covered enough skin to protect her from a strong gust of wind but would keep her cool.

She resisted the urge to blush, just because he said something nice. It didn’t erase the nasty words they had previously exchanged. “Thankyou” She replied politely.

A silence fell over the both of them, it wasn’t awkward but it also wasn’t comfortable. They were both just stuck in it, unsure what steps to take next. Maybe he was as shocked as her at his compliment, she didn’t dare look at his face to find out. 

Thankfully the tension broke when the plane door was opened by the ground crew, he stepped towards it quickly and descended the stairs. Leaving Rey to catch up. She followed him a little reluctantly and made her way to the second black Mercedes she had been in today.

The air was pleasantly warm in Chandrilla but that famous gust made itself known whipping her hair around her face. She should have considered tying her hair back, but she had been glad of it earlier when she had been able to use it as a shield between her and her new husband.

Ben had walked straight around to the driver’s side and was instructing a man to stow their luggage in the boot. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the door handle, without thinking she glanced at Ben. Their eyes met.

For the first time, they caught each other’s gaze at the same time. Her heart jittered; she caught her breath. He really was handsome; however, he was looking at her with grim resentment that contradicted the earlier compliment. She guessed he did regret it.

He truly hated her, despised what she had brought down upon him, directly or indirectly. She didn’t blame him, she hated herself just as much. Maybe more. With a stab of shame, she dropped her gaze and slid into the passenger seat. Ben didn’t follow her, at least not immediately. She began to grow concerned that maybe he had changed his mind. As she was about to get back out of the car and ask, he dropped into the driver’s seat beside her. 

The car began to move and the earlier tension returned, Rey could taste it and it was stifling. Quietly she turned to him “We could stop this now; it hasn’t gone to far” She could hear both fear and hope in her voice.

“No” he replied simply

She felt relief, she realised that was the answer she wanted. The answer she needed to be able to complete her side of the deal. She needed him and if he walked away, she would be back at square one and punished for it.

The area they drove through was beautiful, beautiful flowers and masses of trees lined the road. She imagined that it would smell amazing. She knew however that the heat and weather conditions would soon render the picturesque view barren and wilted. She hoped she didn’t wilt like this too, or maybe that was a self-fulfilling prophecy for what she had got herself into.

She had spent a life with her father, a heartless man, starved of emotion. She had now gone and swapped that for another equally as stilted man. Prophecy or not she had endured before, she would endure again.

A minute or two later the car pulled up to large heavy iron gates. Ben wound his window down, keying in a code. The gates opened to reveal and impressive expanse of white building with beautify roman columns. It was breath-taking. She had noted a number of people milling around the grounds, she assumed employees. They seemed at ease with the arrival of the black Mercedes. The car pulled up to the front steps.

“This is it” He turned to her, “Your home for the duration”

Rey looked at the building again, unsure what she was supposed to say. It was lovely but she was sure he didn’t care for her opinion either way. She smiled and opened her door, stepping out into the fresh air, again Ben took his time. He stayed sat in the car for an additional 30 seconds, probably relaxing until he had to put on a show again. She knew he was angry but she also knew it was hard to keep it up, he probably needed a moment before beginning the act again.

As he exited the vehicle, Rey noticed the front doors open and a very small but stocky woman exit. Her expression was utterly impassive as she eyes Rey but as soon as she saw Ben, her gaze lit up. She looked to Ben and for the first time saw a warm and genuine smile on his face, he strode purposely over to the woman dropping a kiss on her cheek and spoke fondly in Chandrilan. 

She didn’t understand what they were saying but then they both turned to face her at the same time, no warmth left in either of their faces. She tried to maintain their gaze with her chin held high but it stung a little. Nether of them really knew her.

“Come here” He ordered, like he was speaking to an errant dog.

Rey felt the desire to flip him off but instead walked around the car and walked defiantly towards them.

“This is Maz, she is my housekeeper. She will show you too your room” He informed her briefly. To Maz he turned and kindly added “Get Teedo to bring in the suitcases please”

Without any further words he was gone. Leaving Rey and Maz alone.

“This way madam…” Rey was shocked by Maz’s relatively accent free English. Maz lead her through the double doors and to the bottom of the staircase. The interior to the house was just as spectacular as the outside, polished wooden floors, she imaged the majestic furniture was antique. It wasn’t quite what she expected it to be, she imagined more sleek opulence than rustic homeliness. 

Maz lead Rey up the staircase to another door, she opened it and stepped back to let Rey through. Rey felt herself sink into the plush carpet. The room was luxurious, cream and lemon accents throughout. 

“The bathroom is through the door on your left” Maz pointed “The master’s bedroom is through this door” She nodded frostily.

Separate bedrooms, Rey was relieved to note, “Thank you” she murmured.

With that Maz turned to leave, her parting words offered coldly “If you need anything tell Mr Solo”. In other words, don’t speak to me. She could tell the housekeeper didn’t like her.

“Actually, I could do with a drink, I don’t think my husband should be bothered with a simple beverage. Fresh lemon water, with clear ice please. That’s all, you can go now” Two could play at this game, it felt wrong to be this arrogant and rude, not at all like her but she needed to gain the upper hand somewhere. She knew why she was here, Maz probably knew too but that was no reason to dislike her instantly. Rey wasn’t a bad woman.

The other woman’s face turned red and she stomped out. The door closing with a distinct click. At that Rey finally wilted. She was going to have to deal with this for at least a year, she needed to be strong, let no one walk over her. She couldn’t show weakness here; this was his domain not hers and she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

She turned around in the room, taking it in, she tried to avoid looking at the bed until she could no longer. The bed was huge, it looked like heaven, but it would be her own personal hell. That was the reason she was here. That bed would be her jail until she could provide a Grandson to her father. Her stomach sank, the beauty of her surroundings turned to ash in her eyes, forever spoiled by the situation for which she was here.

She gritted her teeth and shuddered. She needed a shower. She wanted to drown her sorrows literally and try to forget for at least a little while what she was here for.

She had finished her long-extended shower, she had stood there until the water began to turn cold and then stood there a little longer. Upon exiting the bathroom, she was met by a young girl, probably no more than 19.

“Pardon, Maz she told me to bring drink” Her thick accent stuttering over the English, which she obviously didn’t speak overly well. “I am Beeny, I have unpacked for you also”

“Thankyou” She smiled genuinely at the young girl, she seemed to be the only sweet person she had met so far. It also struck her that Maz had sent a girl that barely spoke English as punishment. Well whatever.

The girl left and Rey looked at the tray she had brought with her. It did in fact contain water but also a small sandwich. Cheese by the look of it. It was simple and she was sure Maz could do better but it would do, she was famished having not been able to eat since last night.

After finishing both the sandwich and drink, Rey realised she was bone tired and the migraine still hadn’t subsided. She removed her towel and replaced it with a long t-shirt dress. She lay n the bed and sleep took her fairly quickly.

She awoke slowly, the feeling of something touching her hair, she jerked backwards and realised she had wedged herself up against another body. She rolled away just as swiftly.

“I wondered if your hair had been naturally straight” He remarked “Now I know. The curls suit you”

She felt the residual tingle in her scalp and realised he must have been carding his hand through her naturally wavy hair. That is what must have woken her.

“What are you doing?” She asked shakily and still a little sleepily.

She could tell from his face she had asked a stupid question, of course, what else would he be here for.

With a look of annoyance, that betrayed her actual fear she tried to move off the bed, Unfortunately Ben was faster and pulled her back to him so she was tucked tightly against his body. Closer than she wanted to be at this very moment. Closer still when she noticed that he had also showered and from the expanse of skin peeking out from his black robe he wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

He raised his hand and brushed it across her cheek, her breathing hitched and to her utter horror her body reacted. Her mouth dried and something inside her started to heat up.

“You sleep like a baby” He informed her softly “I’ve been lay here for some time and you haven’t moved, barely made a noise apart from the occasional whimper. You looked lovely, I had to stop myself from waking you with a kiss”

However now she was awake he seemed to have no issue and tipped his head down to place a warming kiss upon her open mouth. 

“Let go of me” She jerked her head back from him “I n-need...” She stammered confused

“Sex on demand remember, you signed it, I’m here to collect. He talked over her protest.

Oh god, that was true. But she hadn’t expected it so soon. She thought she would at least have time to prepare herself. “I’m not used to…”

“Performing on demand? hmm I heard differently” he trailed off

She stiffened “I don’t. That’s not true.”

“No?” He raised an eyebrow “I heard you had your first tender experience at 16, with a man much older than yourself. A struggling Rockstar. I heard he died a few years later in a car wreck, his blood toxicity through the roof with a cocktail of drugs. Tell me do you still indulge?” He levelled a look at her cruelly. “Your father informed me he sent you to an expensive rehab centre to dry you out. It would be a shame to have wasted that generosity”

Her father, of course, he couldn’t leave well enough alone. She felt sick all over again, the worst part of her life laid bare, she couldn’t have anything to herself. She had been ruined in his eyes and saw no reason to treat her with any more respect than what he thought she deserved. He didn’t know the half of it, nor the truth.

She shook her head, a sharp pain bursting behind her eyes. She had never taken drugs, would never but the picture her father had painted of her. Ben would never believe her, pointless in trying to correct him. Her father and to a lesser extent herself had brought this upon her.

“Should I get you tested to be sure? Am I risking my health by being with you? I don’t want any child of mine born to an addict mother with no control” He pushed on remorselessly.

Her heart broke, her lungs burned from holding in a sob. “I never took drugs” she whispered brokenly.

“I am to believe that?” he asked incredulously. This tipped her from self-pity to anger. 

“It’s the truth, believe it or not. I have no reason to lie, bring in any DR you want, hell bring in 20. They will confirm what I have said” She fired back angrily “I am clean enough for you to use, so just get on with it” She threw herself backwards in attempt to put more space between them. Ben caught her again.

“No, you don’t” His face was alight with anger, tension coursing through him “Is anything I’ve just said untrue? Is it?” He demanded hotly.

She couldn’t back down now, her heart broke at the next lie that left her lips. “I sold my body for 5 million pounds, what do you think?” it was a lie and had been reckless but what else could she do. It tipped Ben over the edge, for that she regretted it.

His eyes flashed darkly “In that case, you best start paying your dues” His mouth crushed into hers.

It wasn’t pleasant or welcome but it happened none the less, the kiss promised nothing but punishment. However, her body seemed to miss that memo because she erupted completely. She pushed him away, looking at him scornfully and then dragged him back kissing him greedily. He met her thirst equally, both drawing what they could from each other.

“Force” he gasped, pulling himself away from her albeit hesitantly. She had shocked him, shocked herself at how ferociously she had reacted to him.

“I hope I give you an STD” She snarled at him, seething at herself and him.

He laughed, more a snort of shock than a genuine laugh. She had amused him; he bent his head back down and captured her mouth once more. Fanning the flames of her desire and from the hard length against her stomach his desire for her had also ignited.

It felt different now though, it wasn’t anger that seemed to be hurtling them forward but just white-hot passion. A feeling so strong neither could really hold back. Her blood sang and the feel of his skin against hers short circuited all sensation.

His hands glided over her, over every inch of accessible skin. They clutched her hair at the nape of her neck, tilting it backwards so he could trail wet hungry kisses down her throat. He growled when he reached the collar of her t-shirt. The hand currently groping at her breast inched lower, heading towards her hemline. He gripped it tightly and pushed it up over her hips, then higher still over the curve of her breasts. 

Cool air skittered across her skin the higher the shirt went; it took her a second to realise he had stopped kissing her and had positioned his hand under her shoulder blades to help him rip the t-shirt over her head. She whimpered as he rolled back towards her, pinning her hip down with the weight of one of his thighs.

She grabbed at the knot on his robe, untying it quickly and removing the thick fleecy item from across his shoulders. His face was taut and his muscles clenched. He was holding his control better than she, but only microscopically so.

Once he threw the robe the rest of the way off, he returned his full gaze to her. She lifted up and wrapped her arms around him, her nails clawing at his back, most likely leaving marks. Their mouths fused together again, hungrily drawing what they could from each other.

She felt his chest brush closely against her sensitive nipples causing a not unpleasant sensation, her eyes closed in ecstasy. The power of his arousal was so strong she thought nothing of opening her legs wide and allowing him to position himself between them. He groaned something, she didn’t hear what, and right now she didn’t care. She needed more, which is why her eyes sprang open when he denied her his mouth again.

“Wild” He muttered “I could tell you would be wild, but I couldn’t have seen how much. So much self-control out of the bedroom, but deadly when you let yourself go” 

“I haven’t let go” She wished that was the truth “You aren’t that good”

“And you are a liar” His eyes sparked with mirth “Funny isn’t it, we both claim to hate one another, yet can feel such passion”

“Its only your passion you’re feeling” she replied reticently, then gasped when he lifted his weight off her and moved down the bed. 

His eyes skimmed over her entire body on the way down, lingering on her breasts, tracing down her stomach to the small patch of curls covering her vagina. She lowered her eyes from his face in embarrassment. She had never allowed any man to look at her quite like this. But what made her feel worse is how her body responded, her hips skirting forward towards him and the fact that he knew why. They were both throbbing and pulsing with excitement, both waiting for the other to tip them over the edge.

“You want me to touch you, I can tell Rey”

“Please” She whispered, hearing her name on his lips causing her brain to melt “Don’t”

She wanted this desperately to be over, he only knew what lies her father had told him about her. He didn’t know the real her, didn’t know what this would mean to her. She knew this would break her and not in an entirely unsatisfactory way.  
“You will beg for me soon enough” he promised and she knew it was the truth. Her resolve slipping every second. She hated this but she loved it.

At sixteen, she was young and naïve and hadn’t really given any thought to her sexual encounters. She had done what she was told and never really understood that she too was supposed to enjoy it, but now looking at Ben Solo, her husband in name if nothing else she knew that she would enjoy this and it could possibly kill her.

She pushed her head backwards into the soft bed and he must have seen the invitation in the gesture as he touched her then. Sliding a long-practiced finger along the hot wet seem of her, before delving a finger inside her, claiming her as his.

Pleasure took over, she arched her back. Shocked that a man she despised so much could make her feel so much. She felt helpless to his whims, he placed his body back over her, kissing the valley between her breast as he continued to pump a finger inside her, she felt the sensation everywhere unlike anything she had ever felt before.

“Oh force” she mumbled noiselessly. How could she let this happen, a wave of despair washed over her? How could she react this aggressively and lose control so much?

It was like he read her mind and he punished her further. He removed his finger instead adding more sensation to her body, she so close to shattering. He moved slightly off her and proceeded to caress every line and freckle of her body, exploring her thoroughly like he was desperate to know every inch of the woman below him.

His lips touched her face, her nose, her lips, softly. It was different to what had put this into motion. His fingers ran down her neck, over her breasts, following her ribcage further down, over the valley between her hips until he came to her centre again and delved once again into her core. Her eyes met his and he watched her intensely, watched every reaction to his touch. The tightening of her eyes, the parting of her lips. Each quiver and jolt of her muscles as he continued to massage his fingers inside of her. It was almost too much, his dark penetrating gaze, looking directly into her soul learning what he could about her.

His mouth stopped by her ear “You look so good like this, your beautiful skin glowing with desire. I adore the way you react to me; you are so sensitive to my touch; you try not to be but deep down you want it don’t you? You want to touch me too!”

“No” she gasped; she may be out of her head but she would not allow him this. She would admit nothing. Refusing him this was her last line of defence for her quickly ebbing self-respect. “I won’t touch you”

“You will, you’ll beg me to let you” He warned “I will drive you to the brink and you will be wild with need” the promise in his voice was unmistakeable. She clenched her hands, stubbornly refusing to answer his taunt.

He laughed softly at her stubbornness, then lowered his head to her sweat slick nipple sucking it hard into his mouth. A low groan rumbling out of his throat. That was all it took to send her over, he called her wild and she would give it to him.

She snaked her hand up over his shoulders again, this time catching the end of his hair, she raked her fingernails through his scalp. Hard. He cried out rawly in response to her grip, she couldn’t help but smirk.

He muttered something into her chest and then raised his head, thrusting his body back up her own. He seized her mouth once more in a burning kiss, it was mind-blowing, she wasn’t ashamed of the pleasure she gained from attacking him. If anything, it elated her, she hadn’t truly believed she had it in her to react so violently, but then she guessed no one had ever pushed so hard.

He moaned into her “Beg me”

Her eyes flickered open; she couldn’t hide the fire in them. “I never beg” she informed him frigidly.

“No?” she caught the glow in his eyes as he started to once again descend down her body, this time going further than before. Once his mouth was level with her core, he looked back to her “Beg me” he offered softly.

His arms encircled her thighs pinning them down “Go to Hell Mr Solo” She bit out, throwing formality at him as an insult.

It seemed he cared little to her outburst, he simply smiled rakishly and dropped his mouth to her. Rey was not ashamed at that moment that she did indeed start to beg. She clutched his hair in flawless agony, she begged him for no more.

She tried to pull him up and over her, to get the blinding pleasure to stop, she needed more. She dug her fingers into his glistening shoulders. She gasped, writhed and panted, all whilst drove her to the edge of insanity.

“Please” she sobbed “Please”

She could feel his grin between her thighs, his tongue continued to flick, his fingers pounding hard. His vengeance was ripping the breath from her body.

“Beg me again, say my name” He muttered 

“Ben” She groaned “Ben, please. Please…” He breath was ragged.

“Please what Rey, what do you want? Say it” he demanded.

“Ben cum inside me, please” She cried out in delirious agony.

The humiliation was solidified when he laughed as he launched his frame up her body and entered her without any preamble.

“Like this?” He taunted “Is this what 5 million is worth to you?”

She couldn’t have reacted to the insult had she have wanted to. It went straight over her as wave after wave of ecstasy spread throughout her body. Her limbs electrifying and then turning to liquid. 

She panted hotly and he swallowed her moan as his lips covered hers. He began to move inside her, she could feel him baring down, he kept her orgasm going. Until he surged forward one last time and she felt him release into her. 

Rey wasn’t sure but she thought she may have died, like she expected she would. She knew she would never ben the same again, something had changed deep inside her and she wasn’t sure she would ever get it back. She felt his heavy weight upon her, his body still jerking with aftershocks of what they had just done to each other. She felt a creation between them, she wasn’t sure of what it was but something had passed from her to him and she didn’t know if she could claim it back.

What she did know was that it was gone. He moved eventually, sliding off her and burying his face into the pillow beside them. His breath evening out. She curled in on her side, trying to ignore the shock she felt at the wildness he had brought from her. Shocked by his power and her willingness to let go of her self-control. They both lay there, in the silence, intimately strange together.

She was silently appalled, she suspected he was too, they had been so taken away with their desire, so tangled together that now they came crashing back to reality as two separate entities.

Ben moved first, she tensed, waiting for him to speak. Instead he heaved a heavy, almost sad sigh and she could hear him raking his hands through his hair. The mattress dipped and then he stood, she sensed his eyes on her. She had become attuned to him in their short tryst and she could feel the tension in the room. 

She clutched her hands closer to herself and waited for him to say something, whether it be scathing or soft she didn’t know. But in the end, he walked through the adjoining door to his bedroom without uttering a single word.

And that was probably a bigger insult than any cruel remark he could have made. She meant nothing to him. Her heart broke sharply in her chest and she closed her eyes in misery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Spoiler* I should probably warn you there is slight dub-con in this chapter but its very minimal, if Rey and Ben weren't being stupid there would have been no arguments about it. As it stands, Rey does say stop but she doesn't mean it. She knows it, Ben knows it and now you guys know it :)


	4. The Failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter where everyone hates one another, I promise it gets better. I have changed this chapter from the original and started to soften the characters. The Price of a Bride was written in 1998 and a few things have changed in regards to attitude towards romance and consent since then. I hope you still like it. 
> 
> Also Ben calls Rey 'Tesoro' this is Italian, but for the purposes of this story it is Chandrilan language and rey doesn't know what it means.

A while later the young woman from earlier had knocked on her bedroom door and informed her that dinner would be served at 8pm. Rey had nodded and then thrown herself back down onto the bed. She did not want to see Ben Solo right now, or ever again.

It took all the determination she could summon to get dressed and leave her room by eight o’clock. She had paused at her door as she shut it behind her and took a long steadying breath. Her insides churned and her hands were shaking.

She knew it was shock, her body and her mind both reeling from what had transpired in the room behind her. How she had let herself become so undone, so uncontrolled. Shock at how she had done it with Ben Solo. A man who from all accounts saw her as nothing more than a means to an end, he had no respect for her as a person. 

Where had her self-respect been? She didn’t know, she couldn’t answer that question without looking at all her actions that lead to this and right now she just didn’t have the inclination to delve further into the mine field. She didn’t want to know what had possessed her to fall apart so completely, to allow him to do the things he did to her. 

She was fighting the compulsion to just turn around and lock herself in her room, she had given him too much power with her earlier submission, she hated that. She knew she would see the victory in his face when she laid eyes on him. With that final thought, she heard a door open downstairs and decided that if she didn’t face him now it would be worse when she did.

She slid her defiant mask back into place and raised her chin, straightened her shoulders and walked confidently down the stairs. As she reached the bottom a sound to her left caught her attention, it was coming from a door that wasn’t quite closed. She steadied her breath and took a slow quiet step towards the room, light emanated from the frame. Instinctively she knew who would be inside.

She pushed the door softly open and slid inside. She saw Ben immediately, her heart thudded painfully against her chest. He was dressed formally, in a very fitted white dress shirt, black bow tie and black suit trousers. His jacket rested against the chair that he had his hand rested upon. He looked sinful and she was appalled at the sexual desire that sizzled down to her centre. Her eyes appraised him as he stood looking out of the window seemingly lost in thought. 

She saw his wide shoulders, stretching the material of his shirt doing nothing to conceal the muscles she knew were held underneath. She wondered if his back still showed evidence of their previous encounter when she had raked her nails painfully down him. She saw how his torso tapered of to his strong powerful hips, his pelvis that had been pressed against her so sinfully not a few hours earlier. 

The thought of everything that happened in her bed earlier made her skin heat uncomfortably, the sensation flickering through all of her limbs. She remembered his deep hungry kisses against her lips and the animalistic way his hands grabbed at every inch of her body. Not enough to bruise but enough that she could still feel the pressure that had been there, even now. Everything about him had become so physically real to her, she couldn’t pretend anymore. Her own words came to taunt her ‘lay back and take it’. Ha yeah right, she had tasted him now and tasted the raw passion, there would be no taking it from now on, but actively enjoying what he offered. Even if by the look on his face in the reflection of the window he did not think the same.

Ben was seemingly completely in his own head, an empty whiskey tumbler loosely held in his other hand. He obviously thought he was alone; he must have heard her enter and she could see the cracks in his armour. The fierce look she had become used to was absent from his face, instead replaced with a look of self-loathing. A look she knew well. He was probably thinking about the situation he found himself in, the same as her and though they would never admit it to one another they both hated it. 

Shame and sadness trickled though her, they had both sold their souls to the devil and were only now realising what the cost was. This could possibly break them both and it was only the beginning. They were nowhere near the end.

She must have moved or made a small noise, because his head turned towards where she was stood. He swallowed sharply and met her gaze. His dark brooding stare to her helpless one. His eyes glinted and she felt his embarrassment, she had caught him in a solitary moment and it all felt a little too intimate.

His look changed quickly, masking any other emotion, he looked at her with contempt, she was used to. Like nothing else had passed between them in the moment before. His gaze dropped down the length of her body, cruel in its observation of her tied back hair and loose leggings covered with a denim shirt. He seemed disappointed to find the woman in front of him dressed so casually and not naked and wild, waiting eagerly for him.

He glanced at her hair “Take it down” his flat tone giving no meaning to the request until he continued “I don’t want to see it tied up when you are with me”

What? Her hair? How had that even registered on his scale? It was the last thing she thought he would say and she impulsively touched the band holding her ponytail in place. Her eyes dropped to the ground and a measure of mortification swum through her. Why was he attacking her and why the strange tone to do it?

“No” Rey responded grimly, “I find it comfier tied up, it gets in my way” her indifference showing.

“I don’t care” he replied unsympathetically “It doesn’t suit you that way, it doesn’t warn people about what you really are” he raised the empty glass to his lips then dropped it again, realisation that he must have already drank its contents.

“What am I?” she countered, stepping forward, her eyes glinting in challenge. Her muscles then tensed, waiting for him to repeat the one word her father had been calling her for years. The word whore didn’t really mean much to her anymore. she was called it so often, but she knew it would hurt to hear him say it. Her supposed husband. Ben Solo was no different from her father, she was sure he would hate that if he knew.

But then, maybe he did know, because he didn’t say it. Didn’t utter a word to answer her. Just turned to the drinks cabinet and poured another measure of whisky.

“Just do it” he sighed “Don’t make me make you”

“Dinner” a neutral voice announced behind her.

Rey spun abruptly, catching Maz’s frosty expression. The old housekeeper must have heard most of their conversation, Rey straightened her spine and went to stride proudly past her, to hell with her opinion.

A hand catching her wrist brought her to a standstill, how had he moved across the room so quickly. Her skin burned where he held her, familiar in its strength.

“Leave” he dismissed the housekeeper. She left, closing the door behind her.

Rey was propelled backwards by a sharp tug on her wrist, she spun around to find herself trapped between Bens arms and the now closed door. A second later she felt the tie holding her hair snap out of place and her curls fall heavily around her shoulders. His hands curling around the nape of her neck. She felt the now broken tie drop by her foot.

“Don’t fight me” He warned her bleakly “There will be consequences”

To prove his point, he moved his hand from her neck and gripped her hair, pulling it just shy of painfully so she had no choice but to look at him. She could see anger in his eyes as he took both hands to her hair arranging it so it cascaded around her face.

She didn’t know why but him asserting his control like this hurt her deeply, she had expected it but it still hurt. Her heart ached, she managed to keep any tears from falling, instead her eyes glistened.

“You don’t like who you are do you?” he asked suddenly, shocking her again with an abrupt change of subject.

There was no need to lie, so she answered honestly and bluntly “No”

“Is that why you hide who you are? You act so measured, but really you are ashamed of who you are”

“Something like that, yes” she responded coolly

“You couldn’t hide it upstairs, though could you? all that passion came rushing out, devoured you whole”

“You didn’t seem so measured yourself” She hit back emphasising his own choice of word.

“I didn’t stop breathing” He volleyed smugly

She felt the blood drain from her face and her eyes slam shut, revulsion at her own actions.

“Was it like that with the Rockstar? Did you shatter so completely for him as you do for me?” he questioned; curiosity obvious in his voice.

She wouldn’t answer, she wouldn’t allow him anything from that time in her life. That was before, before this and before everything else. It was none of his business and she certainly wasn’t going to inflate his ego further by telling him no man had ever made her come apart so completely as he had.

His hand grasped her chin, tightening, demanding that she answer. She met his gaze solidly, she would not back down, her mouth remained solemnly shut.

“Well you’ve set your own limitations with what took place between us Tesoro, you will not leave this estate without my say so, you will not be left alone with any other man. You are my personal prisoner for the duration”

“Have you forgotten; you wrote those points into my contract. I didn’t argue then and I’m not arguing now. It makes no difference” she raised her chin.

“Well you see, that was before”

She looked at him, unsure what he meant, she motioned for him to continue “Before….?”

“Before you were aware of your own passion. Of how you enjoy falling apart beneath me. I won’t take any chances of you entertaining the idea of falling apart for any other man”

“Understood” She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of arguing, she knew that’s what he wanted. What he fed off of. He may have learned how to make her come apart upstairs but she had also learned that he thrived off an argument, his fed his desire and she refused to do that again. She had control here.

Or at least that’s what she thought, until he laughed. Of course, he was no idiot, he knew what she was doing so he laughed, an amusing sexy sound that released butterflies in her gut. The sound stopped when his mouth came down to hers and both of their passions engulfed them once more.

Their bodies melted together, quickly and easily. Hip to hip, chest to chest. They came together fiercely, as though someone had lit a match and the heat of pleasure wrapped around them.

His tongue blended with hers, her hands wrapped around his warm muscled neck, sliding higher past his jawbone, until she wrapped her arm around his head and pulled him harder into her. His body responded in kind and his hands dragged down her body to her hips, gripping hard and drawing her upwards until her legs wrapped around him. She felt her back hit the frame of the door, the pulsing throb of his manhood frighteningly close to her own increasingly wet core.

She couldn’t stop herself, wouldn’t have stopped herself even if could have. She ground herself down on him again and again, she groaned lowly, or it might have been him. She was unsure they were both lost. Her thighs flexed and he thrusted forward, it was terrible but deliriously perfect. 

When she felt his weight lift and his lips leave her own, she blindly went searching, eagerly trying to drag him back. His weight found its way back to her pelvis but he did not reconnect their mouths. She opened her eyes, flickering up to his own, confusion evident as she looked at him looking at her. It took several seconds to realise why he had stopped.

He was looking down on her, watching her, she could see clearly what he thought to her lack of self-control. Whore. He didn’t need to say it; she knew that’s what he was seeing. He despised that she responded to him like this, probably wishing she was as detached as she claimed she would be.

He dropped her down to the ground, softly considering the repulsion she saw on his face. “Save it”

A lump formed in her throat. Why?

“I have a mistress that needs attending to before you, ill be back later to take what I have to from you” He told her insolently.

It was cruel, she knew that, so did he, but that is what he had meant for it to be. His anger replacing any passion. He was angry at her and angry at himself and she knew how this ended, he would take that anger out on her. Hurt her in ways that couldn’t be seen. How much like her father he truly was!

With that final humiliation he moved away from her and pulled the door open. He didn’t even look back at her as he left. She heard the front door open and close and then the start of a car engine before it drove away with a powerful roar.

She was frozen where she was, aching and ashamed. She barely breathed, didn’t blink. The realisation truly hit her. He hated her, it sunk into the very marrow of her bones. He had told her before but now his words finally meant something. He had thrown his mistress in her face; told her he would bed her as he pleased until she was pregnant and nothing more.

She truly meant nothing to him, she would come second, no probably further down than that. He would console a mistress before his ‘wife’, he would live how he pleased. She was here for one reason and one reason alone. Conceive his child so he could reclaim his island. This was a transaction of property, nothing more and if that didn’t slice through her irreparably.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the door twitch and Beeny looked around the room before settling her eyes on Rey. “Erm… Dinner…. It is this way” She prompted quietly.

Rey struggled to breath in but she tried, she pulled herself together and followed the young girl to the dining room where one place setting awaited. Just one. With a grim realisation she realised he had always meant to leave her alone.

Through her agony, she frowned, this was not like her. This was cruel but Rey had always been able to suffer cruel. So, the pragmatic, invulnerable self-assured Rey raised her head. She sat at the table and ate her meal in peace and silence because this is what she would have preferred. A silent meal without having to sit in the company of the heartless Ben Solo. 

Once she had finished, she returned to her bedroom, her cell, she had no problems thinking of it that way. At least she was alone. Her resolve only wavered once, when she looked at the bed expecting to see ruffled sheets to find it pristinely made and possibly a different bed sheet. No scent left behind and no creases from earlier exertion. That is when she nearly dissolved, the staff had changed her bedding and now they knew what had transpired between their master and his interloping wife.

They knew that much; did they know more. Did they know exactly the price Ben Solo had paid for the woman they were forced to attend? Was that why Maz had given her such a frosty welcome, she knew exactly what Rey was here to do, what their master had been forced to settle for.

The realisation held the gate open for her next thought, did they also know he had left her alone and bereft to attend a mistress? Did they like the other woman more. After all she was of Bens choosing, Rey could not claim the same.

She let the humiliation flow through her until it turned to anger. She stalked to the bed and threw every last pillow on the floor and the top sheet into the corner of the room. She vowed to mess up this bed every time she entered the room. If the staff wanted to be privy to their master’s sexual deeds then let them make this bed 100 times a day. She no longer cared. If he wanted them to know he bedded to women then so be it, he must have incredible stamina. How proud he must be.

She didn’t care, she absolutely did not care. Let him stick it wherever he pleased as long as he was practising safe sex, who gave a damn. She did not. 

With that she got into bed, the last thought being pushed out of her mind because if she dwelled on it for too long, she thought she might just start to care about it.

Thankfully sleep came easily too her and she drifted into an empty heavy sleep where she was aware on no one and nothing for what must have been hours. That was until something or someone lay beside her and pawed at her shoulder.

“Wake up” a muffled but unmistakably masculine voice demanded

She pushed the intruder away, snuggling further into the bed. The hand came grasped her again tipping her onto her back. “W... What?” She mumbled “What do you want?”

He lay above her then, pinning her down with his weight, his hands twined into hers. “You” he informed her disdainfully.

Her lashes flicked towards his face, trapped by his dark eyes and realisation of what exactly he was asking, well demanding.

“What’s the matter?” she taunted “Did she let you down?” 

He frowned down at her, eyes narrowing before a look of resignation set in at her meaning. He lashed out with the next words “She was lovely, as always but now I want you”

“Unlikely” she said and tried to remove his weight from above her. 

“What I want, you deliver” he said harshly “Don’t say no to me” She was sure she had misheard the last part and mistaken the hidden plea in his words. 

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead claiming her mouth as passionately and ruthlessly as usual. His tongue probed into her mouth, knowing exactly how to illicit a moan from her, appalled she returned the kiss as fervently. Her desire igniting eagerly for him.

She could still taste whisky on his tongue, transferring the aroma to hers and filling her lungs with the fumes. She felt his hands trembling, the urgency in his touch hard to control. They ran softly over her curves of her breasts, her ribcage, her stomach. The feather soft touch making her spine arch in need, she wanted to push him away but when her hands connected with his shoulders, she found herself pulling, not pushing. She found herself dragging him to her, claiming him as he claimed her.

She felt his soft naked skin under her palms, heard him gasp as she let her hands roam lower until the were in the dip of his back pressing him harder into her centre. Ensuring his hips were positioned perfectly between her own. 

His throbbing erection rubbed against her so divinely that she widened her hips to gain more sensation, to gain more friction to where she wanted him most.

His mouth left her and a laugh escaped, his triumph washing over her. “SO hot when you let yourself go” he rasped “Aren’t you glad its me that was chosen for you, I am, I could give you so much more than any other”

“Don’t ruin it” She shot back at him. Just one time, she would like to pretend their courtship wasn’t tinged with hatred. If he would just keep his damned mouth shut and stop talking.

With that he lifted her nightdress up and entered her, she would have been upset about the lack of communication except for the fact that she went wild beneath him. Like the time before, her orgasm didn’t wait and hit her as soon as he was thrust in to the hilt. Her body writhed and her insides throbbed, her head fell back onto the mattress whilst she panted riotously. 

He hadn’t yet moved above her, she could feel his gaze watching her fall apart, no doubt shocked at the intensity in which she fell over the edge. She looked up at him through hooded lids and the shock was broken he surged into her again and again, short thrusts that she felt in every muscle, her orgasm once again threatening to peak. His strokes became longer, deeper as he drove her higher. 

He moaned something into her neck, she couldn’t make out the words, but she used her hands to manoeuvre his mouth to hers and as their tongues battled with one another their climaxes ripped through them simultaneously. His hand twined with one of hers above her head and she held him in place with her other buried deep in his hair. both frozen together as the tremors spread throughout their body. His muscles bunched jerkily and her thighs jumped with every release.

He swore faintly, his self-control had cracked, she could tell. They had both leaped into the fire together. Sighs and whimpers of anguished pleasure echoed around the room. Rey couldn’t tell if they were from her alone or they shared them.

The next morning when she woke, she found the bed to be empty, the only sign she had shared it last night was the scent of Ben on the sheets and the taste of him in her mouth. Her body ached in ways she couldn’t hate; he had firmly staked his presence and she had firmly enjoyed it. 

She moved her legs over the edge of the bed and felt every step she took towards the bathroom. Her body had been thoroughly punished and the pulsing between her legs increased. Her body still felt as ravaged when she left the bathroom after a hot shower, she began to look for some thing to wear. She had opened the curtains to asses the weather and found it to be sunny and the heat strong enough to warrant a thin sleeved dress. 

She opened the window to drag in the sweet scent of the garden behind the house, hoping it would replace the smell of Ben that was lingering within her. It didn’t work. She could smell him no matter what, she was sure that she would be able to sense him in every way now, destined to always have him as a part of her.

She hated that thought, it made her shiver. She enjoyed falling apart beneath him and the affect they had on each other, but she knew deep down that no matter how passionately they came together he would have done what needed to be done even if she lay cold and despondent beneath him. He probably despised her more for the passion rather than remaining aloof.

Who was she kidding, she despised herself for how she reacted. She couldn’t reconcile it. The passion and the excitement thrilled her but when she thought about it, it was all a lie and she hated herself for falling for the idea of this being more.

She hated that she started to wonder if his mistress fell apart as volatilely as she did. Did he make her spiral into sexual bliss whenever he took her to bed? Did she affect him as much as Rey tried?

Did it matter? Why should she care? She asked herself angrily. Jealousy crept through her, poisoning her blood. She was ashamed of herself. Asking herself these questions only lead to despair.

It didn’t matter that every night he came to her room and made her see stars, that he panted as harshly as her when his own orgasm reached completion because the next day, she wouldn’t see him. She never saw him in the daylight hours. She didn’t know where he ate his meals, if he left the house for work or if he spent any time in his home, because though he spent hours in her bed, she never woke up with him next to her.

He barely ever spoke to her, even if they passed in the halls which happened rarely, he would barely raise his head in acknowledgement of her. He kept it inside until he was in her bed commenting on what they were doing, using filthy words to bring her to climax. He seemed to show no remorse in using her as the brood mare she had been sold to be.

After they had finished, he would lie back, whilst she curled up trying to disguise the aftershocks racking her body, she knew he could see them though. Probably fed his ego, knowing how long it took her body to return to a blissful calm. His ego had been badly dented when he agreed to this deal, but he was clawing it back piece by piece. 

She thought perhaps maybe he hated himself a little too, sometimes in the heat of the moment he would see a look cross his eyes. A look she had seen in the mirror for years, self-revulsion, contempt for her falling apart so wildly knowing he would follow just as wildly behind her. Whatever he did to her, she did back to him. They fed off each other’s pleasure, raising them both higher. If he got the same pleasure from the other woman he bedded, he probably hated getting it from Rey.

Rey could feel her insides breaking with each passing day, she tried to stay strong when he was in her bed giving him as good as he gave but during the day when she had no one but herself to speak to she dwelled too fully on her thoughts and feelings. She prayed to the force that she would end up pregnant, so she wouldn’t have to keep pretending to not be affected by her husband. The frequency and potency of their intercourse should provide a million babies; she was hoping for only one.

Alas it was not to be, she woke up a fortnight into her marriage to find blood spotting her underwear. She wept. Rey moped around the estate that day, sluggishly wandering through the gardens. She had no one to speak to, there wasn’t a friendly face here for her to talk to. To explain her feelings of failure. She also had to tell Ben that they hadn’t succeeded and he was stuck with her for another month at least. 

How was she also going to tell Ben he wouldn’t be able to use her for five days? She only saw him in the dead of night and that wasn’t the prime time to have any sort of valid conversation. Should she leave a note on her door? She thought bitterly to herself. Though she was truly tempted to do that, just to give herself momentary pleasure, she knew it wouldn’t work. So instead she stood by her open window waiting for him to enter her room from the adjoining bedroom.

She didn’t have to wait long; the sun was just starting to set and like clockwork he entered her room. A look of wariness past over his face, he wasn’t used to her being anywhere other than the bed, he walked softly towards her.

When she felt the heat of his body behind her, she turned to face him. “I’m not pregnant” She announced boldly.

He looked at her for the longest time, not saying a word. His hand had raised slowly towards her and then dropped down by his side again. His stance had tensed, she gained satisfaction from stumping him. It was if he truly did not know what to do next.

It felt strange to see him so perplexed, almost worth the disappointment, he was a big man and she knew his body intimately she could tell he was frustrated by the way his muscles were taught against his shirt. She probably shouldn’t have said the next thought that crossed her mind, but she was riding on grim satisfaction that she didn’t think through the consequences.

“You should probably use your mistress for the next 5 days” She added icily “I will let you know when I’m available again”

She liked reminding him that he treated her no better than a common whore, and that is why she acted that way, it didn’t however excuse his treatment of her and he knew that. His eyelashes fluttered down and then back up again, acknowledgment crossing his features of the insult to them both.

It passed quickly and he got his own back. She reaped the consequences of throwing his actions back at him, because he responded in kind “I will do that”

He then turned around and left the room. No further words were exchanged. She stayed where she was with her head held high but tears streaming down her face. She was crying uncontrollably but couldn’t understand why. What had she expected from him? Disappointment, compassion, actual human emotion? Why had she fooled herself into believing he would show her anything more than what he wanted.

He didn’t give a damn about her feelings, which explained why he must have stayed with his mistress for the next 7 days because he hadn’t returned to the estate at any point. 

A week later, she had just entered the house from walking around the gardens when Beeny found her. “The master, on the phone. Wishes to speak with you”

‘Master’ ha, the word made her skin crawl. The man had everything, Master of all he surveyed. That was except for an island that he had sold his seed for and a child he couldn’t conceive with that same seed.

She nodded back at Beeny, thanking her before heading to the office to pick up the phone receiver. 

“I’ve sent the helicopter for you; it will be there in 30 minutes. Make sure you are ready to leave” Ben announced.

“But…” the phone went dead.

She had no idea what he wanted, she hadn’t been out of the estate since she arrives nearly a month ago and now, he was requesting she join him force knows where. She changed quickly into white linen trousers and pale grey shirt, throwing a few spare pairs of underwear into a carry-on bag. She had no idea what she needed but would figure it out when she got there. 

She was waiting when the helicopter set down and once she was securely in, they flew quickly to Chandrilla city centre. 45 minutes later she found herself ensconced in an elevator taking her up to the penthouse suit of the nicest hotel she had ever seen. Was this where he met his mistress? No, don’t think about it rey reminded herself. It left a bitter taste in her mouth that he took pleasure in taking a mistress and she allowed it. Was she here now because the mistress was unavailable?

The elevator reached the correct floor and the doors slid open. She walked out into the foyer of an expansive suite, finding her husband leant against the doorway. Dressed casually in dark grey jeans and black t-shirt. His arms were folded stiffly over his chest. He looked her up and down and then lingered on her face. She was sure it was a trick of the light that made it appear as if his eyes softened upon reaching hers.

“Your hair” 

That’s all he said, just ‘your hair’. Without question she pulled out the tie and let her hair cascade heavily around her. She wasn’t mistaken when his eyes darkened and he took a step towards her. She felt the look deep in the pit of her and the fire started to grow. Desire, pure and undiluted.

It was time to start the charade again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I don't have a beta, if you notice any annoying errors like missing words or incorrect grammar please let me know. I want to make sure your reading experience is smooth and not disjointed with errors. Thanks guys :)


	5. The Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter broke me a little bit, but I managed to write it in record time. Hope you enjoy it. Some things are revealed this chapter, but not everything. Many more secrets to follow.  
> For any WHO fans reading, don't worry the title of this chapter doesn't refer to the aliens haha Alien free story.

A pattern emerged for the next 2 months, even if he was working in the city, he would commute back to the estate every night and every night he come to Reys bedroom. Except on a weekend, she didn’t know why but on Saturday and Sunday Rey was left alone. She failed to hide the disappointment from herself, trying to cover for it by angrily presuming he was making use of his mistress. Why would he want her 7 days a week when there was another to get his thrills from? Was she boring to him now?

She told her self that was a stupid line of thought, the days in which he did come to her bed their passion ignited as hotly as ever. Never really waning, so stubbornly she told herself that she deserved the break 2 days a week and the mistress could have him. If she said it often enough maybe she would believe it.

Rey made use of the time alone and on a Saturday, she rang Jade. The conversations were always emotional, having to remind the child every week that she had not been forgotten and Rey would try to see her as soon as she could. The phone calls were both the highlight and low point of her week. She was glad she could speak to Jade but she knew she was lonely; how couldn’t she be. 

She had lived that childhood, loveless and lonely and it still affected her now. During these phone calls Rey wished that this could all already be over, thankfully with Ben being absent she could spend the weekend in her own melancholy.

During the week she settled into her own rhythm, in the morning she would pack her swimming costume and head to the small lake towards the back of the property. She had seen it during the first week of being here when Ben had sent a helicopter to pick her up. She would usually take a book and a small picnic with her to relax next to the water with after a brisk swim. She would then return to the house for a shower and an evening meal. It was a prison, but what a pleasant prison it was.

Throughout the months, Ben requested she be brought out to wherever he was staying on business several times, taken to many different states that she had never visited before. She always found herself shown to the penthouse suite and found him waiting for her as she stepped from the elevator. It was a strange development, whenever they weren’t back at the house in Chandrilla their habits changed. 

They would eat together, spend time in the same room together without starting an argument, they actually talked. Mundane, unimportant things but it was a change from the norm. The sex was different also. She wouldn’t call it love-making because, no, neither of them would allow that emotion to show but it was softer somehow. Ben wouldn’t wait until night fell, he would take her whenever, undressing her slowly, making her mind drift away before passion made her wild.

Sometimes, he would look at her like he cared, his hands would graze over her reverently, he would walk her slowly to the bed lying upon her almost sweetly. It was during these softer, more intimate moments that though he drove her mindless with lust he was more attentive and warmer. 

He caressed her cheek whilst he kissed her, lay his forehead against hers, sighing sombrely above her.

“Why do you let me do this?” he asked

She had an answer, she had several truths that she could tell him, however she wouldn’t. So instead, she lied again.

“I don’t know” she said it with such conviction that it could have been the truth, she didn’t know why she let him do the things he did. “Why do you do it?”

Ben huffed, closing his eyes, she saw something cross his face that she hadn’t seen in weeks. Self-contempt. “I don’t know either” he replied tautly. 

He didn’t move again for the longest time, she thought he would withdraw from her, that he would end this. Both of them confused as to where the lines were drawn now. He surprised her however by doing the exact opposite, instead of retreating he surged into her, buried himself deeper, kissed her more passionately than he had done before. “Whatever the reason, maybe we should just go with it” He whispered huskily “When you are pregnant its all over” 

She knew that, it was written into their deal. Once she was pregnant, they would have no further need to be intimately involved, remembering this now saddened her and from the reticence in Bens voice she thought he too may be saddened by the reminder.

That feeling explained then, why when 2 weeks later, her period failed to show up she failed to mention it at all. She allowed their trysts in the night to continue. Since that night where they had opened up to one another, in the only way they could, their love making had become more urgent, more arrestingly tiring, it hit parts of her she would never admit. Rey was not yet ready to stop, then she missed her second period and a feeling of despair hit her once more. 

She was glad Ben was on a business trip, too far away to have requested her because she needed to come to terms with her feelings. They had created a baby; it was the whole reason she was here but why did she feel so sad. Her baby, their baby, would give them back everything they both desired and yet she wondered was it worth it?

Rey had endured isolation, loveless passion, loathing all to gain what now lay buried within her, but her heart throbbed. Breaking for something she had no right to be feeling. 

Three days later, Ben arrived back to the estate, she saw the helicopter fly over as she was swimming in the lake. She could hear the rotor blades slowing down and knew he would probably head back to the house, a lead weight steeled in her stomach. She felt sick, knowing what she was going to have to tell him, making it all come to an end.

She waded out of the lake, wringing her hair behind her, not really looking up which explained why she failed to see him walk towards her. Only when a pair of black patent shoes stopped in front of her vision did she look up. This was a break in habit, he never searched her out, she couldn’t hide the smirk at the irony that this change would come now. She looked at him then fully, noticing he looked tired, his tie already loose and his jacket missing.

His hooded gaze examined her, she knew her body had changed, her clothes already felt tighter so on instinct she bent down to grab the towel and wrap it around her. She looked to the side, avoiding meeting his gaze full on guilt radiating through her. 

She knew the moment she told him everything would end and she found the words momentarily stuck in her throat. She hated to admit that he had broken through her life long armour of being able to remain so controlled and it broke her now, knowing how indispensable he was to that feeling of finally being free of the constraints she had built around herself. She admitted to herself that knowing what she did about her feelings towards him was the most pride lowering thing she could feel.

“I’m pregnant” the words escaped, they blurted out with no preamble. 

She had seen the look in his eyes, he had been gone for days and it was obvious to see that he wanted her. It struck her already broken pride that he had probably only sought her out as a sexual need.

His hand reached for her waist, before he seemed to catch himself. Shaking his head and lowering it again he asked quietly “Are you sure?”

She raised her chin, eyes steady. “Yes”

“Oh, how far?”

She swallowed, she was going to have to admit that she had suspected and had let him go on taking her to bed. What would he make of that?

“I missed my second period last week, I wanted to make sure before, before I told you” She stammered over the weak excuse. 

Yet he made no comment to it, he just stood there frozen, staring down at her abdomen in total silence. She sensed he was thinking about something deeply, she waited on baited breath, unsure what she was expecting. When he answered however she knew exactly what she had wanted and his answer had not given it to her. In fact, it felt as though it tore something from her, made her bleed, that it would kill her.

“It’s over then” he turned and walked away. She was unsure in what direction because it seemed all her senses shut down. She stood there cold and empty, rejection washing through her.

An hour later, she was standing in front of her dresser brushing her freshly washed hair when she heard the helicopter leave the grounds again. She closed her eyes, biting into her lip, trying to piece herself back together whilst the sound of the rotor blades grew distant.

‘Over’, yes it was over and didn’t she know it. He hadn’t said any more to her. He just left, no question as to her health or anything, just three words which dripped with the contempt she had told him he would feel for her and her baby those long months ago.

She should have expected nothing more; he was willing to forfeit anything even his own child to get back his island. Even though she had felt a change he obviously hadn’t and this was still just a transaction to him. That cut her deeply.

Then without any warning, the adjoining door to their bedrooms opened and her husband walked in. Striding into her room when he should have been gone, confusion and shock travelled along her limbs, weighing heavy in her head and lightly tingling in her feet. It was then her body failed her and though she had never once before done it in her life, she fainted.

“What the hell happened?” Bens voice was gruff next to her as she came around again. She realised she was lay on the bed and he was sat next to her. His hand touching her forehead and his face a fascinating mix of concern and anger. 

“I… I thought you’d gone. You were gone” she answered frailly, some unnamed emotion catching in her throat.

“I wasn’t gone, why would I go? I only just got here” incredulity crossed his face. “Why would I leave so quickly?” 

“Why would you be in my room when you’ve already completed your side of the deal?” she shot back at him touchily.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he looked to her and then to his hands. “Force Rey, I know I’m ruthless, but surely you don’t think I’m that bad” Shame tinged his hoarsely muttered words.

She had thought he was that bad, she hadn’t expected to see him again, the fact that he was here and he seemed hurt by her accusation threw her and she responded by pulling herself up and wrapping her arms around his neck as she wept heartily into his shoulder. Tears burned a trail down her face, spotting onto his shirt. 

She wasn’t sure who was more shocked, Rey hadn’t reached out to another human for comfort in years and he was obviously so unaccustomed to it that his body was stone beneath her. His heart thundering an unsteady beat due to the shock.

Then with a low resigned sigh, Ben turned into her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her ever so slightly closer. He allowed her to weep in his arms whilst gently rubbing her back in a soothing gesture.

It had to come to an end at some point and when it did her sobs had quieted to small snuffles with the occasional hiccup thrown in. Her senses returned to her fully and she became aware of exactly what she had just done and who she did it on. Her cheeks flamed and she shuddered. Idiot, why had she let herself go?

She stood up shakily, walking swiftly to the bathroom, refusing to look at Ben as she went. She didn’t need to see how he was reacting to her show of emotion, she just wanted privacy. Why had she done that? Why had she reached out to him? She hated herself for showing him weakness, she hated him for being the one she wanted to show weakness too. But most of all she hated this whole situation that was now spiralling out of everyone’s control and was now stuck on a course that no one could change.

It spiralled Rey into the next stage of limbo. Ben didn’t walk away, in fact even though he followed through with his promise to never take her to bed again they started a somewhat contented relationship. He would come home every night from work, they would eat dinner together, they would take picnics to the lake together. During the weekends he took her into the nearest town, let her stroll down the main street, purchasing things she felt they would need for a child. He indulged her needs when she had woken him at 3am passing his door going in search of ice cream. 

Month by month passed by and she was gaining weight quickly, she was thankful that the estate had a lake and she was able to swim daily or else she felt like she would have been double the size. She hadn’t noticed how her skin had started to glow, or how her hair had become thicker. 

She couldn’t see the look in Bens eyes every time he looked at her changing body, she only saw the ever-increasing bump protruding more each day.

Regardless of all of that though she could tell how much she loved her baby; how much she was eager for him to be here so she could shower all the love on him a child deserved. 

She stood in front of her mirror, stroking her growing belly “You are going to be so loved my baby, I will give you everything you could ever need” Her baby would want for nothing, she would keep him strong and healthy and make sure he knew he was wanted and loved something she had never felt.

The, on Thursday morning, one week away from being 6 months pregnant, she was lying in bed considering if she had the energy to get up this morning when the phone rang. A call that would replace all her sapped energy and then some.

She had heard the phone ring and then heard footsteps running throughout the house, getting closer to her door. Beeny raced into Reys room, not bothering to knock.

“Mrs Phasma, she says emergency!” She faltered over the last word but Rey had already sat bolt upright.

Mrs Phasma, Gwen, why would she ring here? Alarm rang through her, and she went as fast as she could to the nearest phone. Hoping the call was to say her father had dropped dead, unfortunately she wasn’t that lucky and though she begged for it not to be true Gwen had called to let her know Jade was in hospital.

Fifteen minutes later, Rey was rushing around her bedroom, throwing what she could into a suitcase. She had barely stopped to breathe, just needing to get ready to leave.

“Maz” she barked at the housekeeper whop had been hovering by the door since she had run in here “I need to get to Coruscant, now, I don’t care how I do it but I need to leave”

“You are not allowed, the master said so” She answered matter-of-factly.

“I couldn’t care less what the master wants” she flung back eyes wide “Find a way to tell him”

“Tell me what?” a calm voice enquired from the bedroom door.

Reys back straightened and she turned to face him “Ben, Thank force….” That was as far as she got as then her body sagged and she crumpled softly to the floor next to the bed. She didn’t quite pas out but she felt all the blood drain from her face.

“Tesoro” She was vaguely aware of Ben pushing past Maz urgently trying to reach her and crouching down beside her as she righted herself to be sat upright rather than sprawled on the floor.

He put his hands upon her upper arms and forced her to look at him “What in forces name are you doing? You insane woman, you know not to exert yourself like this” he growled into her face.

“I’m fine, I’m fine” she whispered trying to push him away but finding she couldn’t get her limbs to work correctly.

“Oh yeah, looks like it” He mocked “you’ve never looked paler”

“It doesn’t matter” she cut him off, ignoring the sickness settling in her stomach she carried on “Jades in hospital, I have to go back to Coruscant” She informed him “I need to be there”

“You don’t need to be anywhere, that’s what her father is for” Ben replied stiffly

Ha, was he joking? Her father. Her father wouldn’t care. She glanced at him again and realised with grim finality that he wouldn’t let her go willingly; she was going to have to fight him on it. 

“Ben, she needs me, not my father” Rey insisted

She startled when Ben stood up and strolled to the bathroom, leaving Rey behind without a word. She attempted to pull herself up on shaky legs, that was when Ben must have come back into the room because she felt his hands clutch at her from behind and help her stand. 

She turned around and caught him picking up a glass of water, he must have put it down in a hurry as there was a small puddle of liquid on the bedside table.

“She needs me Ben, please, she frightened and in pain. Gwen said she needed surgery; I need to be there. I’ve always been there” She pleaded.

“Well this time it’ll have to be someone else” he ground out “here…” he handed the glass to her.

She knocked his hand, sending more water spilling over the side of the glass.

“I don’t want that” She snapped at him, turning on the spot she looked back to her case on the bed.

Ben caught her hand; she whipped her gaze quickly back to him. “What are you even doing? Have you seen yourself?” He bit out hotly “You have spent months walking around this house, showing no one a single second of emotion, you’ve been so discreet it was like you weren’t even here and then you get one phone call and you flip a switch inside of you and suddenly your control has gone to hell and you put yourself in danger”

“What are you talking about?” She frowned, shrinking slightly at his angry outburst.

“You, pretending for months to not care about anything, like nothing exists and now” He stepped closer his face darkening with something “You nearly faint because suddenly you aren’t thinking anything through. It makes a mockery of your self-control” forcefully he added “Even now you are trying to do the same thing that made you drop to the ground a mere few minutes ago. So, what, you can go support a sister when your father is already there”

“You’re joking, you’ve met my father” she cried “He won’t be there, he never is. That’s why she needs me, she needs me Ben and I need to go to her”

“NO, you will not be leaving this house” he barked at her.

Rey gasped, stunned, was he refusing her. She was appalled, he couldn’t stop her, surely, he wouldn’t.

“I’m not asking your permission Ben, I’m going. I was just informing you” she lifted her chin

She noticed his face change and he looked at her like thunder, “Well you need my permission and you are not going. Your sister will survive. She is not your concern, the child you carry now is, so get your priorities straight. I’ll make sure you won’t be receiving any more phone calls”

“Are you serious?” She shouted “I see what this is, not only am I a prisoner here I’m now relegated to solitary confinement. What are you so concerned about? That someone might see me, pregnant and link me back to you. You can’t stop me from speaking to my family, I still have a mind of my own Ben” 

“You aren’t leaving” he stood his ground.

“Watch me” Rey screamed in frustration

His eyes narrowed at her; his head lifted as though she had slapped him “Don’t speak to me like that” his voice full of shock. 

She walked over to her suitcase, grabbing it from the bed, it was wrenched from her hand. Bens arms wrapped around her, one across her chest the other splaying his hand wide across her swollen stomach.

“Listen to me now Rey, you signed a contract” He spat through gritted teeth “I have more rights to you than you do yourself, you are carrying my child”

“Ha” she mocked “You mean the passport to your island. Other than that, I’m nothing to you. Just a damned loss leader that was forced upon you” She tossed at him angrily.

“A loss leader?” he was stunned, his face had frozen and his jaw dropped “That’s what you think you are to me? What the hell do you think I am?”

“A heartless bastard, if you keep me from going to a sick and frightened child. I didn’t think you would be so cruel” She pushed out of his arms and spun to face him once again “I don’t care what you say, I’m going”

She looked at the suitcase on the floor, she knew she wouldn’t be able to pick it up. Screw it, she grabbed her bag and pushed past him. She would buy whatever else she needed back in her home city, right now she just needed to get to Jade.

“I won’t let you” he informed her

“You forget Ben, I’m not asking for permission” She replied as icily as she could, it was taking all her strength to stop from shaking obviously.

“You will be stopped at the gate; my men won’t let you through”

She stopped at the top of the stairs clinging to the bannister “I don’t care, they can try to stop me” she threw backwards.

“I will stop you Rey.” He conceded “Come away from the stairs” He commanded holding his hand out.

She sneered at his offering. “You have no idea Ben, no idea what it is to love someone more than yourself”

“Are you talking about Jade?” he asked

She was growing paler by the second she knew it “Yes” she confirmed “Jade needs me, I’m the only one she has ever had care about her and it is her right to have me come when she needs me. SO again ben, I’m going”

“If you leave without my permission Rey, you break your contract”

It was delivered with such intensity that she went still. Her blood froze in her veins. Clever, she thought. One tiny little clause in the contract she had barely taken notice off. She was not to leave Chandrilla, or leave him without his permission or else she forfeited her rights to her child.

When she signed the contract, she hadn’t even thought to argue it, she had no reason to leave, why would she need to. Now she knew.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, I guess it was crunch time. This baby or Jade. She loved her baby, she loved it with all of her soul, could she hand over all rights to the man in front of her. Would he love him as much as she could? She didn’t care about anything else, other than her baby’s future. And then she saw Jades face in her mind. The small child so full of life, so willing to love being crushed of her spirit by the same man that had raised Rey. Could she let that happen to the little girl that needed Rey to protect her.

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. No, she couldn’t, she would not let the little 6-year-old suffer any more at the hands of her father. She knew deep down that the baby she carried now would never know what it was like to be unloved. Ben may despise his mother but he would love his child raise him well. 

With her choice made, she opened her eyes and steeled herself against the wave of agony rolling in her stomach.

“I have to go” She sobbed “I’m sorry” With that she rushed down the stairs, heart breaking and history repeating itself. What kind of mother was she?

“Stop” 

She was at the bottom of the stairs when the command hit her, she froze on the spot refusing to turn around. She pleaded silently for him to let her go, she was seconds away from breaking down and she needed to go before that happened.

She couldn’t look at him, she heard his footfalls behind her as he made his way down the stairs and walked in front of her.

“Why?” he demanded, reaching out to grab her wrists “Just give me one good reason why you would run to your sister at the risk of losing your baby, why? How can you do that? Please, just one reason”

Her eyes closed, agony rolled through her afresh, he would never understand. But he had demanded one reason.

One good reason.

And by all things force she had one.

“Jade is not my sister” She whispered unsteadily “She’s my daughter…”

For the first time in 6 years, she had uttered the words out loud. Tears fell from her eyes as she met his frozen gaze with her heated one.

“Is that a good enough reason for you Ben?” 

Her voice echoed in the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little disjointed I think, if there is anything that seems really wrong don't hesitate to let me know. I re-read it and it seems to flow but I wrote it so maybe I missed something. Thank you for reading :)


	6. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this lived up to expectation :)

Silence! No words had been spoken in what felt like a lifetime. Ben had not moved and Rey was trembling too badly to attempt to utter a single word. What had she done? Why hadn’t Ben said anything yet?

She had uttered the one thing no one was ever meant to know. And now she had lost both of her children, one to her husband and one to her father for breaking a promise she should never have made.

She had been warned. It had been a part of the contract she made with her father; she had signed it hopefully. Finally, being able to get her daughter back on one proviso, her true lineage would not be discovered by a soul until a grandson was born. A precious grandson, worth more than both Rey and Jade combined.

Now though, what did she have? 2 broken promises. She had been ready to forfeit one child for the sake of saving the other and now she had forfeited the daughter she had six years ago. She thought sadly to herself again, what kind of mother am I?

She felt a soft pressure skim across her palm, looking down she saw Bens hand holding hers, it was a testament to how lost she was right now that she hadn’t seen him move. Hadn’t even realised he had come closer.

She noticed him now though, he moved his other hand to her cheek. “Come on, it’ll take me about an hour to get the plane to the airstrip.” He pulled her forwards “Let’s sit you down”

She didn’t understand, he was treating her differently, like someone volatile and he was unsure of her next move. She supposed she couldn’t blame him, she didn’t know what she would do next, what she would have to do. She felt close to exploding.

Ben guided her across the hallway to the sofa in the study, she was unsure why but she used his body as her strength until she was able to collapse onto the plush sofa. He didn’t move though, he stood there, she felt his gaze on her but she couldn’t look at him. She was busy in her own mind, turning over every choice she had ever made.

She knew the questions would come and she tensed at the thought, biting her lip, she waited. They never came and Ben simply walked away, out of the room and she wasn’t sure if he would go so far as to walk out of her life as well. After all who wants a whore for a wife anyway.

Awhile later, she couldn’t be sure of how much later Beeny appeared with a tray of tea and some food, she placed it down beside Rey and then left. Rey glanced at the tray but didn’t move to take anything from it.

A minute later Ben reappeared, he looked between Rey and the tray, noticing that Rey had not moved and the tray was still full. It was Ben that poured the cup that now rested in her hands. 

“Drink” he demanded

And she did, automatically and without sensing any real pleasure from doing so. She could neither taste the tea or feel its warmth. He stood over her, she tensed again waiting for the questions to come. Though by now he had probably already put two and two together. He knew Rey was twenty-three, he knew Jade was six, therefore she would have been exceptionally young when she fell pregnant and had her child. She had just turned seventeen when Jade was born. She smiled thinly, both the happiest and worst day of her life. 

She had been young and lost. Her mother not yet cold in her grave, having killed herself presumably to escape her husband. Her mother’s lover had left her and she refused to live with her retched husband anymore so she had taken a cocktail of medication and gone to sleep, never to wake again. Rey understood, or at least tried to but she just couldn’t forgive her for leaving Rey and her brother with the same man she wanted so desperately to escape.

So, she rebelled and she rebelled hard. Mocking herself for how stupid her younger self had been. She ran away from the boarding school her father had placed her in and became a groupie for a travelling rock band. She had travelled with them for a few weeks when the lead singer had started to notice her. He hadn’t treated her badly as such but he had taken her virginity roughly, even when she had warned him how young and inexperienced, she was. It wasn’t six weeks later that he had been through with her and had kicked her aside.

She had crawled back to her father, reaching her lowest point. Sixteen, penniless, homeless and pregnant. She supposed now that, that was why she had been such an easy target for her father. Why the original deal had been struck just over six years ago.

“Keep drinking Rey” Ben prompted her again.

She glanced up again, his voice having brought her back into the present. She noticed him sat on the high back chair to the right of where she sat. She lowered her gaze back to the cup in her hands, it had lost most of its warmth, or maybe her hands were just that cold. In her brief look up she noticed he had changed; He was no longer in a suit but now wearing soft blue jeans and a black t-shirt. 

The sound of weight on the gravel outside caught her attention, a car must be here. Ben stood up, he removed the cup from her hands, bending down he placed one hand around her back and another on her forearm. He helped her to stand.

“Maz packed for us, we just need to go now. Is that ok?” he murmured flatly

What? Why was he asking her, he had never cared before for her opinion why now? Did she really look that broken?

Though, really, why she questioned it she didn’t know. It didn’t matter. She looked at Ben again and stepped hastily away from him. She needed to pull herself together, stop showing her weakness. It wouldn’t do, he was still the enemy and now he had everything he needed to hurt her.

They were driven quickly to the air strip and escorted into the small private plane. She expected that Ben would be piloting them again but was surprised when she found him sat down beside her.

“You didn’t need to come with me, you’ve probably got better things to do” She said, her voice cracking frailly. “Or did you think I wouldn’t come back”

Ben didn’t look at her and he didn’t answer, his stony gaze stayed directed on the point in front of him. What was he thinking, she wondered, was he as lost in grim thought as she had found herself? Was he know beginning to wonder the true extent of the woman he had been forced to marry? 

Her eyes began to tear up, her weakness refusing to leave her. She hiccupped softly and looked towards him, chin held high, a familiar habit over the months.

“I’m not a whore” She wasn’t sure why she said it, but she just needed him to know.

Ben sighed “Only you have ever called yourself that Rey, I never said it”

“You didn’t say it, but its so clear on your face; it screams at me, how can you deny it?” 

She saw him grimace, though he had not yet turned to her.

“You only ever sold yourself as that to me Rey, did you expect me to question it? Don’t blame me for following your lead” he answered solemnly

Her lead? Was that what she had been doing? She was the one that had told him she was selling her body to him for money. She had never uttered any other reason. It didn’t matter now but maybe she couldn’t entirely blame him for what she herself had made him believe.

“If it makes it any better, in case you were worried, there have only ever been two men that have had access to my body. Jades father and you”

“I hadn’t been worried, if I had you would have been tested long before now. As it stands…” at this he turned to face her “I already knew most of what you had told me, your father may have looked into my background but I also looked into yours. Other than that minor stint in rehab, you practically didn’t exist, it made your reaction to me so confounding…” 

Her cheeks flamed at the reminder of their passions, it may have been months since he had bedded her but she could never forget his touch, he rested his hand upon hers on her lap.

“The only thing I didn’t uncover was Jade, now that was a surprise” He added softly.

“Will you use it against me?” She asked angrily

“Will I have too?”

Rey felt the lump in her throat expand, talking was difficult for her “I want my baby Ben, I do. But I will not keep him at the expense of Jade”

“You do you not love him as much as you do her?”

“Of course I do, I love him with all I have” She rested her hands on her bump, dislodging ben as she did “But Jade has been hurt long enough for having me as a mother. I will do whatever I have to, to make sure she doesn’t suffer any more because of me”

“Like sleeping with a man you hate?” He suggested thoughtfully “Like taking every ounce of venom I’ve thrown at you without once rising to the bait? Like being forced into isolation as punishment for my weakness?”

“You admit you have a weakness then?” she smiled

He smiled back at her “I know my weaknesses Rey, I’m thirty-three, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t? I would be no better than your father.” He added flatly

“You are no better than my father. The island means more to you than this baby ever will”

“If that’s the case then what does that make you?” He fired back.

Her eyes flashed angrily to him, the first bit of the real Rey finally shining through.

“I sold my own body to you, not another’s. You bought me from my father not me” she made the clear distinction known “In return you get your precious island and he gets the heir he so desperately desires. What I get is Jade and this child, I am happy with that. So, you tell me, what am I?” she challenged right back

His smile was unkind as he asked cynically “And what about the five million from your father? You seem to have forgotten about that”

She went to open her mouth and then slammed it shut. Biting at her lower lip she turned her face from him and remained silent. The silence pulled on, tensely and uncomfortably.

“There is no money is there?” He asked suddenly “There never was, you lied to cover the truth”

“I don’t need my father’s money; I don’t want it. I have my own” she countered defensively

“Your mothers’ money” he confirmed. It surprised her; he really had looked into her background thoroughly. She would love to see that file; learn what other secrets he had revealed. “She placed money into a trust fund for you, it matured on your twenty first birthday. Not really that much though, only two hundred and fifty thousand pounds” he added pitifully.

To other people that amount of money was a small fortune, Rey had done the maths, it was enough to get her started in a new life with her children. It may not be much to the man in front of her but she had never had that much to her name in her life. 

With a humourless laugh he muttered, “You really are a whore in a lot of ways” both of their eyes flew to each other angrily “You sell yourself so short, you see yourself so cheaply” With that he undid his seatbelt and strode away. Letting his words sink in.

She didn’t see him for the rest of the flight, it was only when she noticed the landmarks of coruscant out of the window that he reappeared by her side and fastened himself back in. Preparing for their landing. 

Once on the ground, they hurried out of the small aircraft and into a town car that was waiting on the runway for them.

“Which hospital?” Ben asked her, she answered and he leant forward relaying that same information to the driver.

She was thankful that he hadn’t argued with her about going straight to the hospital. She was tired and it probably showed on her face. She would have fought him on it but she really wanted to save her energy for Jade. 

Jade, her daughter. It felt so good to be able to say that, after all these years. However, it still sent a slice of fear throughout her. She had bonded with her child, loving her as much as she had been allowed. She had been forced by circumstances to hand her baby over to her father but as much as he tried, he had not been able to shake the bond they shared. He had clamed her as ‘his daughter now’ as he had forced her to sign adoption papers relinquishing her rights. 

She had felt sick to her stomach remembering that day. Remembering the threat he levelled at her that if she ever dared to tell a soul, including Jade, who she really was she would never see her again. It was up there with the day she had come back to his house. He had given her options whilst also giving her no real choice at all.

“I won’t have any gossip about my whore of a daughter and her bastard child” He had warned her “If you want to keep her, she will be mine. I will adopt her. I don’t want her but she can be your sister, she is your problem but don’t for one second dare to reveal her true parentage”

She had agreed eagerly so long as she could stay near her child, she put her life on hold, staying firmly within the Snoke estate. She had been able to bring her daughter, no her sister up herself, barely any interference from her father. Until he decided to completely interfere. He sent her to the Force awful boarding school, ‘to toughen her up’ and it had broken her.

“You mollycoddle her, she needs to toughen up, you can’t always be there” he had explained dispassionately

It hadn’t been for anyone’s benefit but his own, he wanted to hurt Rey and Jade was the perfect weapon. It killed her not being able to see her every day, only being able to see her at weekends. But then he had added a further layer of control. He had promised her the holidays.

“You can have her during the holidays, do with her whatever you will, but you will remain under my roof”

It had seemed such a good deal and then Armitage had died. Her fathers whole attitude changed, with no longer a male heir to call his own he had roped Rey into a deal she didn’t want to make. He had the perfect leverage, Jade. She would agree to anything, everything to get her little girl back. And so, he made his wants known.

“You will give me a grandson; I want a legitimate heir and then you can have your precious little girl” he had said snidely. “I will choose a man; I will make sure he marries you and then you just need to do what you do best. Be the whore you have always been, it shouldn’t be a problem” 

It hadn’t been a problem; she had been disgusted to begin with but then she had met Ben. She grimaced; how much had changed. It had been no hardship to be bedded by him, in fact it was a complete pleasure. Maybe her father knew her better than she did, maybe that was the point, give her someone she couldn’t refuse. Get the job done. Did he know she was pregnant? Had Ben told him? She hadn’t, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction but maybe Ben had. Surely eager to announce his success, one step closer to getting his island back.

Everyone would get what they wanted. Ben an island, Snoke an heir and Rey would get Jade back with no conditions attached to her. All deal would be complete, this child without being born yet had become everyone’s champion. Stuck between them all.

“Does she know you are her mother?” a low voice asked

Rey jumped; the car had been silent for so long. “No, she doesn’t and she can’t know” her chest heaved heavily “I wasn’t to tell anyone until this baby was delivered, not even you. If my father knows you know he will break my contract. He will keep her from me just to hurt me. Till hurt her too, he wont care” she breathed in harshly.

The hospital came into view just then, halting any further conversation they could have had. The car pulled up to the front door, Rey jumped out eager to get to the reception desk and ask where Jade was being kept. Ben came with her, travelled through the hospital corridors with her to the third-floor paediatric wing, where they had been pointed to by the kind nurse at the desk below.

Her anxiety grew ten-fold the closer she got, she spotted a nurse’s station and hurried towards it. The nurse looked up at the sound of her approach smiling warmly at her. The most warmth she had seen in months.

“Ah you must be little Jades sister; you look so alike. She has been waiting for you” She declared in a friendly tone.

“Is she ok?” Rey asked cautiously

“Oh, she’s fine, hunny. The operation went off without a single glitch, in and out” The nurse rose from her seat and walked around to Rey, patting her hand. “Come on, she’s this way. She will still be asleep yet, but a little peek won’t hurt” She smiled conspiratorially.

They walked towards a small private room; it was different than what Rey had expected. It was practically a little suite and there in the middle on a bed much too large for her lay her daughter. Asleep but face taut. Reys body tensed and she felt the colour drain from her face. She brought her hand up to her mouth to hide the tremble of her lips. Holding back a sob.

“Oh Jade” she whispered into the air. A little louder she added “She looks so tiny”

“She will be fine, a little sore but no permanent damage. She was more bothered that you wouldn’t be able to come” the nurse informed her quietly.

Rey looked to Ben and saw him share the wince that crossed her face. She nearly hadn’t made it and Ben knew it.

“I wasn’t in the country” Rey explained “I got here as soon as I could”

“It’s fine hunny, she will just be glad you’re here” She reassured her.

“Has my father been?” Rey asked already knowing the answer.

“No, he hasn’t” The nurses tone cooled “Just the lady that came here with Jade, she had to leave though once we got Jade safely back up here”

“Thank you” Rey whispered, “Can I? Can I stay a little longer? Please” Rey pleaded both to the nurse and to Ben. From Bens soft nod she knew that was ok.

“Sure you can” The nurse nodded to the chair next to the bed and then left the two adults alone.

Rey hadn’t noticed, she had positioned herself next to her daughter. Grasping for her hand and rubbing her cheek gently against it.

“I’m here my darling. I’m here” She crooned softly.

The young girl didn’t move, probably still had too much sedative in her system but it was plain to see her body reacting to the soft musings of Rey close by. Jades skin brightened and the taut line between her eyes softened immediately, relaxing into a peaceful dreamlike state.

Rey barely noticed that Ben had left the room, probably for the best, Rey felt the need to let her tears flow and she wanted to do that privately with her child. He came back a little while later, he frowned at Rey. She couldn’t find it in her to care why, she was tired, exhausted and had half been falling asleep next to Jade.

“It’s time to go, Rey” He held up a hand to quiet her as she went to argue, “You are bone tired, we will come back tomorrow, but you need to sleep or you will be of no use to her” he reasoned with her softly.

Ben was right, she knew he was and as much as she was loathed to leave, she stood up gingerly and followed Ben out of the room and through the corridors to the car waiting out front. Once she was seated and seat belted in, she laid her head back against the head rest and closed her eyes.

“You are very alike” Ben remarked openly

“Hmmm” Rey sighed 

She didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to open her eyes. Relief surged through her, it was probably the only reason she wasn’t asleep yet and also the reason why she was so tired. She had been willing to travel here from Chandrilla, relying solely on adrenaline and now she knew everything was ok she was ready to sleep. 

“No one has made the connection? That you could be more than sisters?” Ben questioned

Rey guessed she should have expected the questions; he hadn’t asked half as many as she thought he would so she guessed here they came. She wished he could have waited till morning but she replied anyway.

“We all looked pretty similar, it was only Armies hair that separated us really. I think people assumed Jade was my brothers, I was far too young for anyone to ever think she was mine”

“I thought you said your father wasn’t even sure you were his?” Ben frowned “Surely if you all looked so alike, there must be blood shared?”

“We have the same mother, as to who fathered us, that is up for debate. To be truthful, I don’t think my father can sire any children” She announced detached “I don’t blame my mother. I think that’s why he used me to make the deal he did. He knows he can’t have children; people believe I’m his so it was natural progression to the lie” She admitted. “He could have had any number of sons from other women if he could but no, I was the last resort and I was so easy to manipulate. My mother was never faithful I don’t think, Snoke married her for the family money. He never loved her, he was a horribly cruel man and when she couldn’t provide him with a child, he would call her so many nasty names. So, I think she went out and got pregnant with the first man she could, maybe we were all fathered by the same man but I don’t know” She was shocked that she was admitting this all to Ben. It was something she had buried deep long ago but here she was spilling all her secrets to a man who surely wouldn’t think of using them against her.

“Do you know who the liver was?”

It was the expected question and she knew the answer “It is rumoured but I think so, he died several years back. Cancer” Reluctantly she added “It was Samuel Palpatine”

She heard the intake of air as well as felt Ben gasp. “The train magnate?! You’re telling me you are Lord Palpatine’s daughter?”

“Supposedly, why does that impress you?” she asked sardonically “I wouldn’t bother taking much notice of it, he was as bad as Snoke. He knew the possibility that we were his but never sought us out. Hadn’t bothered with us, it didn’t bother Armie though. You see Samuel had another four children, Snoke only had us. In Armies eyes, it was better to get all the pie instead of a sixth”

“All? What about you?” Ben asked again

“Ah that’s where my fathers’ prejudices’ come in, how this whole thing started. I’m a girl I mean nothing to him. Armie was heir apparent, he would have got everything. I was fine with that, but then he died and it all went to shit”

Rey was still saddened by the loss of her brother; she had loved him dearly and he loved her. They were products of circumstance and though Armie wanted more for Rey, who was he to go up against their father. He never would have won. Armie also doted on Jade, would do anything to make her smile, whish is why Rey always found it in herself to forgive him for any other indiscretions.

Jade, her kind travelled back to the hospital and the bed her little girl was lying in. What would she do now? she fought down the wave of depression. How could she leave her again? Would Ben truly make her leave her behind? More importantly, how long would he let Rey stay? She needed to be here. Needed to be close to her. Her mothering instincts finally being let free after so long and they demanded she fight to stay with her child.

She had to stay; it was the summer holidays for Jade at the moment which meant as soon as she was able, she would be sent home to Snokes house. She would be alone again with a man who petrified her and didn’t give a damn for her welfare. 

During Phasmas phone call earlier today, Force had it only been a few hours ago, she had told Rey that Jade had been complaining for two days about tummy pains. Her father had brushed it off as attention seeking. How could a man be so cruel? 

Rey brought her hands up to her eyes, trembling whilst she rubbed the gathered tears from them. She felt Ben move towards her and stiffened. If he reached out to her now, of all times, she would break. She would cry and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop. Today had all been too much.

Instead, Ben patted her knee softly and retreated. She removed her hands from her eyes and found him staring out of the window, he wasn’t quite able to hide the look of hurt on his face before he turned back to her. 

“You look tired, Rey. Let’s get you to bed” With this the car pulled to a stop outside of a brilliantly white townhouse. It was gorgeous, but Rey didn’t care, she just needed a mattress to fall onto.

Ben had jumped out of his side of the car and came around to hers, he helped to lift her heavy frame from the seat and then motioned for her to lean on him whilst they made their way up the stairs to the front door.

“Hmm sleep sounds good, just what I need” she moaned

“What you need” he grunted “Is to be yourself every now and then. Today I’ve seen so m any versions of you, you change depending on who you are dealing with”

“I do not” She defended

“Yes, you do” He stated plainly “Today I have seen a beautiful woman, an angry lioness, a ruthless negotiator and a loving mother. A psychologist could study you and never find an answer. Will the Real Rey please stand up!” He added sarcastically whilst pressing the doorbell.

“Not for you she won’t” She smirked; it would have sounded frostier but she didn’t have the energy.

“Ah, I’ve already seen her. She is the woman in my bed, who goes wild in the dark. She is the most intriguing of them all” he added silkily

“You forget, that’s not the real me, Just the whore you met….” She replied “Will you stop ringing the damn door bell and just let us in, where is your key?” she asked frowning irritably.

“I don’t have a key, obviously the house doesn’t belong to me” He laughed

“Well then, who does….” Her sentenced ended as the door swung open.

Of course, she thought tiredly. Of course it would. Why would he bring her here?

In front of her stood Bens brother, Poe Dameron Solo. This was his house and she was not happy to be here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, this one might be complete tripe. Had to get it out quickly. I had a writing schedule that took me till next week and I got a phone call today to say I'm starting my new job tomorrow (A week early), I've still got my little boys christening to get ready for and as a family we had another phone call with upsetting news. So I wrote it as fast as I could to make sure I got it out as I wanted to complete this before I started back at work. I'm so sorry if its a let down.


	7. The Blame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little insight into Poe and Ben. And we get to meet Jade. Poor little sausage.   
> Also Rey, will you stop being so damned stubborn.

“And what time do you call this?” Poe smiled amused “We had about given up hope”

Although he said it pleasantly enough, Rey could see the stiffening of his mouth when he looked at her. He obviously hated her still, still disgusted at how her father had managed to buy a place for Rey in Bens life. She guessed Poe didn’t need to bother hiding the resentment as much as Ben had.

She considered raising her chin, she considered standing her ground. But what was the point, she was too tired. She had been through too much today and she just didn’t have any fight life in her for another battle with a Solo.

“Come in then” Poe offered and moved aside

Rey felt an arm pull her closer and she sagged into the body next to her gratefully. Retreating from the situation seemed like the best idea right now, she really did just want to sleep. They walked through the hall and she heard a murmured whisper between the two brothers, spoken in Chandrilan she didn’t understand what was said, but did hear the warning in Bens voice. She did also feel Bens arm tighten around her protectively.

“So, where’s the traitor?” Ben asked artificially lightly, whatever had passed between brothers was obviously a sore point.

“I heard that you asshole” came a sharp voice.

Oh, great more family members that hate her. Raising her eyes, she saw a tall man walk through a doorway across from her. Dressed in casual blue jeans and a red band t-shirt, he smiled warmly and genuinely at Rey as he walked towards them. 

“Hi”, he said then squinted at Rey “Oh dear, look at you. You’re dead on your feet, Ben I blame you for this” she heard Ben huff. “Sorry sweetie, I’m afraid you drew the short straw. I got the better brother”

Rey laughed tiredly. 

“I’m Finn, how’s your sister? As soon as Ben rang, I was very worried for you” Rey decided she quite liked this man. He had soft eyes and a kind heart; she was just too tired to give a direct answer right now.

“Rey, as you correctly pointed out Finn is dead on her feet. Maybe you could show her to the bedroom and gossip later” Ben said irritably

“Sorry” Said Finn, sounding a little hurt and confused at the brisk tone. He held out his arm as Ben passed her over.

After a short pause where Finn looked between both brothers, he shook his head and lead Rey up the stairs. She was thankful for the reassuring hand on her arm, as it was taking the last remaining energy she had to get up the stairs.

Rey was shown to a lovely bedroom with what she wanted most. A large bed covered in fluffy blankets. Finn pointed the to bathroom and told her to go freshen up and he would wait she he could help to get her settled once she got back out.

Whilst Rey had been in the bathroom, she heard Finns non stop chatter, it seemed Ben was right he really would gossip on and on. She smiled, it was funny in a way, imagining Ben having to put up with that amount of enthusiasm when he himself was a very quiet person.

She had discovered that Finn and Poe had been married for three years, they had met at Solo whiskey head office whilst Finn was an intern for Ben. Once Poe had shown an interest, Finn had jumped ship and started to work for Poe, hence the traitor nickname.

Rey finally felt a little cleaner and left the bathroom, Finn was waiting right there for her. He must have noticed her wistful look at the bed as he laughed quietly.

“You really are tired aren’t you, poor thing. Come on, lets get you into bed.” He pulled the covers back for her and she settled herself in to the deep filled mattress. A sigh escaped her lips.

“Can’t imagine what it’s like for you, having to travel with such a big bump. I hope Ben has at least been trying to help you, He’s been walking around like a lost puppy with his head in the clouds since you came around” He patted down the quilts next to her and looked to the door “I’m going to go get you some water and a bit of food”

After he left, she lay her head back. Silence. She thought back to what Finn had said about Ben. Maybe Finn didn’t know the full story, Ben was obviously a good actor if he had his brother in law convinced of something that wasn’t true.

The door opened again and in came Finn with a tray, he looked to Rey with a frown and must have realised because then he smiled warmly at her. He was obviously trying really hard to make her feel welcome. 

“You eat this in peace sweetie, I’ve been ordered to leave you alone. Ben thinks I might say something I shouldn’t. Like his behaviour lately has been appalling and maybe he should get his head out of his ass. See, I said it anyway” He grinned. 

Maybe, Rey thought, her new found brother in law did know more than he let on. He didn’t seem overly bothered about dropping secrets into conversation. Once he left, she took a small sip of water and then her mind must have decided to shut down because she doesn’t remember much more until something moved under her head and her eyes flickered open.

She found her own gaze meeting dark brown eyes. Sleepily her mind couldn’t comprehend why Ben was here, in her room, it had been months since he had been near her in the night.

“It’s ok Rey, don’t worry, I’m not here to seduce you” he said softly “You fell asleep sat up, I was just trying to make you more comfortable”

“Why are you here at all?” she whispered, her eyes still staring at him sombrely. She noticed he had moved the tray from her lap.

“Finns idea” he replied contritely “He assumed we shared a bed at home, I wasn’t going to add fuel to his gossip collection by correcting him”

He grimaced and moved away from her, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. She realised he was going to go through with it, he was planning to share her bed. She felt strange, he was practically a stranger, they had been married for nearly nine months and he had never stayed in her bed as though they were a normal couple.

“Do you mind?” he whispered

“We don’t really have a choice, do we?” she shrugged. She knew it was the wrong thing to say. Tense silence dropped into the room. It was uncomfortable and stifling. 

“Why would you bring me to your brother’s house?” she asked, trying to relieve some tension, when it was giving her a headache.

“It’s a family house, he lives here now whilst I travel around but he’d have found it weird if we had stayed elsewhere” he informed her.

“I won’t do anything to embarrass you” she promised hoarsely

He turned to face her, his eyes darkening, “You have a very low opinion of me Rey”

She faced him, her eyes flashing darkly right back at him. “Its mutual”

Ben didn’t answer her, simply looked away again. She could be wrong but something flickered in his face, something close to regret. It was strange, bed was the place they both became their most vulnerable, their most passionate, but this, this was strange. A darkness settled over them and it was making Rey sick.

“Go to sleep” he ordered softly.

Yeah right, sleep! That wasn’t coming to Rey again anytime soon. Not with him lay next to her like this. She turned away from him settling in, but her mind would not switch off. She was trying to not think about it, not think about the other times they lay next to each other in the dark, panting together from shared passion. She tried to not think about it, but its all she could see in her mind. The kisses, the moaning, hands on her skin, everywhere. 

Her breathing hitched, it had been so long since he had touched her, and as mush as it shamed her, she wished he would touch her now. Her thighs clenched and her body tensed. She knew he could sense the change in her, he had always been so attuned to her. Sexual tension spread through her.

“Go to sleep” he repeated silkily. 

Rejected, she pulled the sheet closer around her. She was embarrassed by her weakness, her need for him and the fact she knew he sensed it and rejected her. It took her senses the longest time to calm down and allow her to relax back into a drowsy state. Her senses firing again when she felt him move, he was scrambling around in the sheet, probably finding this uncomfortable and couldn’t blame the luxurious bed.

He must hate this, being forced to sleep next to her. It must be his personal hell, he probably wished he were with his mistress instead, a million miles away from Rey. HE proved her right when he slid out of bed and threw himself down on the reclining chair in the corner of the room. He sighed angrily and she stilled. When she heard nothing more, she gazed at him and found him asleep with surly resolution upon his face.

She then began to cry; tears fell onto the pillow below her head and she hated them. Weakness. It shouldn’t hurt this much to be rejected by him, sleep eventually claimed her when her face was puffy and her lashes were wet.

When she awoke the next morning, she found Ben has gone, he probably hadn’t even spent the whole night, hating it so much. He probably woke at some point and retreated to a different room so he wouldn’t have to wake with Rey in his space. She felt wretched, a heavy weight settled on her chest, she just wanted to lie back and not move. 

Then she remembered Jade and rose from the bed, she headed to the bathroom to take a shower and prepare herself to go and see her daughter. Once she was ready in soft leggings and a loose-fitting blue dress, she made her way out of the room. She reached the top of the stairs when a door along the hallway opened. She looked up to find Ben watching her.

He watched her move and she stopped, meeting his gaze. “You still look tired” he said

“I’m fine, I’m just worried. I want to call the hospital, see if I can go see her” She was still humiliated from last night, both her reaction and his rejection so she tried not to show any real emotion.

He looked back into the room he had just come from and nodded “There’s a phone in here you can use” he offered. Stepping back and gesturing her to follow him inside. 

The room was obviously a study, a den of such, with bookshelves, a desk and a soft looking couch in the centre of the room. She thanked him politely and waited for him to leave. To her annoyance he didn’t take the hint and as she took a seat at the desk, he took one on the sofa. She ignored him and dialled.

The nurse was as friendly as the one last night and she was informed that Jade had been fine throughout the night, she had been made aware that Rey had been there and she was very excited that she would see her ‘sister’ soon. The nurse asked if she would be visiting today.

“I’ll be there soon” Rey replied, “Let her know ill be coming as fast as I can”

“How is she?” Ben asked her quietly. She bit her lower lip, to stop the trembling, she was still distraught top the fact that the little girl had spent a night in hospital alone not knowing if Rey would come. She nodded.

“Then what’s wrong? You look unsettled” he added

“No, she’s fine, I just, I need to call my father” she deflected his question.

“Would you like me to do it?” he offered, as if understanding her reaction entirely.

She looked up defiantly, raising her eyebrows at him. He got his answer.

“You still don’t trust me, do you?” he asked, disappointed.

Rey refused to answer and instead dialled the number she knew so well. 

Her father didn’t answer, but Mrs Phasma did. She was relieved to hear from her and find out Rey was now in Coruscant. Phasma explained more about the situation that led to Jade being sent to hospital. She had been complaining for days, her tummy had hurt so badly but her father had accused the child of making it up. He had told her that no amount of tears would get Rey to come back, she had left her for good. Rey was distraught with each passing word. How could her father do that? How could he destroy a frightened child like that? And then her last thought, why was she even surprised? 

Ben had tensed beside her, he met her eyes and questioned her silently. Mrs Phasma continued to talk into the phone, filling Rey in on everything.

She shook her head “No Gwen, I’m going there as soon as I put the phone down. Is he there?”

Her eyes began to fill with tears, she hated him and she was trying with all her might not to scream. Ben grabbed her chin, and made her face him again “It’s ok”

Mrs Phasma informed Rey that her father wasn’t there, he was in meetings all morning and would not be disturbed. He hadn’t asked after Jade, hadn’t mentioned her since she had made her way to hospital in an ambulance with Gwen. But then why would he pretend to care. She was a means to an end, another damn loss leader.

She was disgusted, he was cruel and heartless and she wanted to scream and yell and curse him with every word she knew. But he wasn’t here. However, Ben was.

She stood up angrily, wrapping her arms around her body, she tried to calm down. It was all for nothing when Ben stroked his hand softly down her arm.

“Rey…?”

“Finish that sentence and I will mar your handsome features” she ground out, close to breaking point.

“What did I do? What did she say?” he choked out.

“It doesn’t matter” she retorted. She needed to calm down, she could feel dizziness start to encroach, her eyes glazing over a little. If she didn’t calm down now, she would end up on the floor. She started to pace.

“No, what did say? You are angry, she obviously said something” he insisted, grabbing her wrist, making her stop.

The touch did it, it lit a match and this time it wasn’t passion that flooded her but hot anger. She turned around, her teeth bared and her hand raised. Her slap missed; she thinks she would have missed anyway, regardless of Ben intercepting it on the way to his face. The jolt knocked her off balance and he brought her closer to him, her body pressed against his.

“What the fuck was that for?”

“He told her I wouldn’t come” She shrieked, “Told her id abandoned her, she was so scared” Her anger turned to tears.

“You think id do that?” His previously calm demeaner shooting into overwhelming anger “You think id be that evil, I’m not your father Rey” He railed at her.

No, he wasn’t but he was the same man that was breaking her heart every damn day. “Oh god” she whispered brokenly; she had admitted something to herself she had never planned. She realised now everything had been leading to this and she was terrified. He may not be her father, but she was still nothing to him. 

“Let me go” she begged. Her body trembling in his arms, he must be able to feel the sobs heaving through her throat.

“When I believe you can stand on your own two feet without collapsing I will. I wish you would remember your condition before you get yourself this riled up” he muttered.

He must have sensed her give up and slowly let her go. Her other child, he needed her too. “I’m fine, it’s my sister I’m worried about not me”

“Daughter” he corrected.

“No, she is my sister until this is all over. She won’t be my daughter until I fulfil my side of the deal”

Ben came with her to the hospital. She was half angered by it and half relieved. The meeting with Jade was going to be painful, it had been so long since she had seen her properly and the guilt was overwhelming. She didn’t want him to witness it.

It didn’t matter though, because as soon as Jade saw Rey her eyes lit up and then burst into tears. Rey gathered her in her arms and let a few tears fall herself.

“Daddy said you wouldn’t come” the child sobbed “He said you didn’t want me anymore”

“That’s not true Darling, I love you.” She reassured “I will always come, no matter what” and Rey found herself remembering that she truly meant that, she had been willing to give up everything to get here.

“No, he said…” she hiccupped “He said you had a new family now and so didn’t need me. I missed you so much” she knew Jade didn’t mean it but she felt the accusation.

The little girl sobbed harder and clung to Rey a little bit tighter until a distinctly male voice spoke behind them.

“Hi” Rey noticed Jades sobs stopped instantly.

Jade released Rey from her grip and peeked around her shoulders. Her face stiffened and she reacted how any child does to a stranger. Rey looked at ben and found him smiling, a true honest to force smile. She had seen it before but only when they had first bet, before her father had roped him into this deal from hell.

“I’m Ben” he supplied “Rey is my wife”

Wife, it had been so long since he had actually called her his wife. She struggled to remember if he had ever done it willingly. It did strange things to her thought pattern.

“Your names Jade…” he stepped closer with every word, holding his hands out, Jade didn’t look away. “Rey has told me so much about you” It was a lie but the child seemed taken by it. She smiled. He sat beside them on the bed, careful not to nudge rey or the child on her lap. “I’m so glad to finally meet you” 

He held a handout, waiting for a handshake. Rey chuckled softly and Jade looked from both Rey to Ben, confused. Ben looked at her too, he didn’t know what to do. 

“It’s ok Darling, you can like him. He’s really nice” she assured the child

A soft smile reached Bens eyes and he whispered “Thank you.

Jade accepted the praise of Ben with usual childish enthusiasm and moved off Reys knee gingerly and wrapped her arms around Ben. He reached down to pat the little girl’s hair. It was the softest she had ever seen him be and it raised a lump to her throat. 

He began to ask her questions, engaging her so fully the little girl was so excited to answer everything. She described her rush to hospital in heavily embellished detail what a tale she weaved; Ben never let his attention drift. He hung on her every word. She shuffled off him to even show him the stitches in her tummy.

“They are so itchy, they hurt when I move” she told him

“Oh dear, you probably shouldn’t move then” he answered with such simple logic Jade nodded in agreement.

Eventually it must have all been too much for the little girl as she drifted softly into sleep, half way through a sentence about what food she wanted to eat.

Rey looked to Ben “Thankyou” she murmured gratefully.

“For what? Taking her mind of everything, to make her forget your father. I don’t need thanking Rey” He stated grimly “She deserves to forget, even for a little while”

Rey agreed “He’s not a nice man, he likes the control he has over her, me… everyone I suppose”

“That doesn’t excuse the mental and emotional torture he put you both through” he countered harshly.

Rey knew he was right, her face paled, her next words spoke volumes “Maybe you can see why I had to marry you, why I agreed to everything. I need to get her out of there”

“She shouldn’t have to be there in the first place”

He may as well have slapped her, they had been talking quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping child between then, but with his last retort she stood up sharply and walked from the room. Those words cut her deeply. She knew it was all her fault as to why her daughter now suffered. She was shaking so violently, she had to steady herself on the windowsill outside of the room.

Ben followed her out a few moments later, a look of contrition on his face, he stood beside her meeting her eyes in the reflection “I wasn’t criticizing you Rey, I’m sorry. It came out wrong. I was condemning your father.”

Rey didn’t believe him, she knew he was repulsed by the decision she made many years ago “You think I’m a terrible person, how could you trust me to be the mother of your child when I handed my own over to a man like him” she murmured hatefully. None of it pointed at Ben though. She hated herself for every choice she had ever made.

“that’s your own guilty conscience Rey, I think no such thing” He turned to rub his hands down her arm “I wish you had been able to tell me this, before, I could have….” He didn’t finish his sentence.

“Could have what? There was nothing you could have done. What would I have said to you?” she asked angrily “Marry me so I can get the child back that I gave to my father when I was barely an adult” Her eyes flashed “You would have hated me more, it wouldn’t have made you respect me”

“You want my respect?” He asked huskily

Her heart weighed down in her chest, the truth to that answer was so damned painful.

“I just want to get through these last few months without falling apart!” she answered shakily.

Bens hand raised up to her cheek, he leant forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. She wanted to cry, she wanted to let all her frustration out and most of all she wanted his lips to move to hers. He stood back then and looked into her eyes. Sympathy is what she saw.

“Do you have a copy of the adoption papers from your father?” He asked suddenly.

Rey froze, taking a deep breath she nodded.

“Where are they?”

Why? Why would he want to know? She didn’t know if she should reply. Against her gut feeling she did. “They are back at the estate in Chandrilla, with my belongings. Why?”

“I’d like to see them, if you don’t mind?” he asked

Mind? Was he joking, of course she minded. Fear coloured her face. “You want them to use against me? I gave one child away; a court would probably give you this child. You can throw me away” she accused angrily

“You have a nasty suspicious mind Rey!” He cut in icily

Yes, she did. For good reason. 

“It doesn’t make you better than me, you just want them to use against me! You are no better than me, you still consider an island more important than your own DNA.” She shouted at him hotly.

Ben rocked back on his heels, the full force of her anger hitting him. She didn’t know what he would do next but he looked frighteningly angry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cant write tomorrow as I'm at work, I'm hoping to write Saturday but we will see. As soon as the weekends over though I will get back on track.   
> Hope you enjoy.


	8. The Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry its taken me so long to get this up. I started my new job and I now work nights, so my prime writing time isn't there anymore. I will get this done ASAP though, I have tomorrow day off and then Wednesday so fingers crossed I can get chapters 9 and 10 to you then.

Rey held her breath, she didn’t want to move an inch. If she moved, she ran the risk of breaking whatever dam was holding Bens emotions back. He had been deathly silent for several minutes and dread and something close to fear was electrifying Reys nerves.

When he moved, Rey sucked in a sharp breath. She hadn’t been sure of what he was about to do but she hadn’t expected him to just turn around and stalk out of the hospital ward without another look towards her. She realised then, to her horror that she had hurt his feelings, and remorse sank into her. She had somehow, without really knowing why, hit a nerve so deep inside him that she wasn’t sure if she could ever make up for it.

She shook her head sadly, another mess she had gotten herself into and no way of knowing how to fix it. She put a smile on her face and walked back into Jades room and waited for her to wake back up.

Once Jade was awake, they had spent the rest of the afternoon talking and giggling, Rey had helped Jade colour in a picture and then they had sat and eaten a small meal. By the time it came to leave Reys nerves were pulled tight, that was until Finn walked into the room instead of Ben. She was relieved momentarily until she realised, he probably hadn’t come for her because of their conversation earlier. She worried still that maybe she had done irreparable damage to their already frail relationship.

“Oh look, you’ve got to be Jade, you look just like your big sister. Two little peas” Finn exclaimed excitedly. Rey smiled.

Finn had the ability to make her feel instantly at ease. That must have passed on to Jade, because Finn and Jade spent the next twenty minutes chatting away furiously, until Finn remembered that he came baring gifts. He removed the back from his shoulder and proceeded to empty it of its treasure.

A handheld Nintendo game was put into Jades lap, her eyes practically burst. “From Ben” stated Finn, “He thought it make keep you busy when Rey has to rest, She’s making a baby you know, did she tell you?” though he said it kindly Finn looked at Rey slightly worried that maybe this wasn’t something the little girl had known.

Jade did know and she nodded. She then said thank you for the Nintendo and went about opening the packaging, after another fifteen minutes or so, Finn and Jade had it working and had been playing games with each other. Jade looked at Finn like he had hung the stars, Rey could see him being the topic of discussion for a long time.

Finn looked at his watch, putting the small bag close to Jades bed, he caught Reys eyes as he went to stand. “Jade, sweetie, we have to go now. Ben says Rey has to go home and have a big sleep, so she’s all bright eyed for when she comes back tomorrow”

“You’ll come too right?” asked the little girl pleadingly.

Reys heart broke for her little girl, she was so desperate for any kind of warm and positive attention that she practically craved new people for the experience.

“I’m coming to pick Rey up after work tomorrow, I’ll sneak in and come and play some more games with you” Finn winked conspiratorially

Rey sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Jade softly into her arms, wishing her goodnight and kissing the crown of her head.

The little girl looked up, wide eyed and asked anxiously “You’ll be back won’t you, you won’t leave me”

Swallowing back the tears that threatened “Yes darling, I’ll be here tomorrow bright and early” She promised. 

With that she lifted herself from the bed and with a last good bye she followed Finn out of the room and to the car. 

“What did you say to Ben earlier? He’s been more of an insufferable asshole than usual” Finn asked “Stomping around the office slamming doors”

“You still work there?” Rey asked “I thought you quit when you married Poe?”

Finn laughed “What? You think I’m a kept man. I wouldn’t dream of letting anyone else near Solo Whiskey advertising. I’m executive of marketing”

He drove swiftly through the streets of Coruscant, Rey was appreciative of the ride but wished he would take corners a little more slowly. The sudden jolting was making her feel a little nauseous.

“I think it’s called keeping it in the family” he explained “Poe works on the manufacturing and Ben knows how to make whiskey profitable. We are trying to get the factories self-sufficient here as quick as possible so once you’ve had this baby, we can move headquarters back to the family island” He added. 

He completely missed the way Rey stiffened at the mention of the island. It was obvious Finn knew the exact details of the reason why Ben had entered into marriage with her.

“The house and surrounding complex has been left to nature whilst your father has owned it. It’s practically its own small rainforest at this point, it’s a little treacherous…” He sighed “…...We are all hoping to restore it to its former glory and make it the headquarters and family home. However now I’ve let slip that I know what goes on between you and your husband, will you tell me what you said to Ben, he’s been really upset?”

“None of your damned business” Rey said abruptly, she was angry that her situation was such a talking point between everyone, all of them probably chatted about her regularly, coming up with ways to get rid of her. She felt utterly betrayed, so much so that she found herself no longer regretting what she had said earlier to him, but rather glad she had said it. ‘Take that!’ She thought grimly.

“Well considering you seem to know everything; I want my own bedroom. My husband hasn’t deigned to share a bed with me since he found out I was pregnant. But you must already know that, so let’s make his stupid life easy and give him his own room, that way he doesn’t have to pretend to want to be in my presence and can sleep in his own bed instead of the chair” Rey ranted unapologetically.

“Well…” Finn drawled following a tension filled moment “I’ve gone and put my foot well and truly in it now haven’t I. Did he actually sleep in the chair? What an idiot” he laughed; Rey looked at him fiercely. “That’ll teach him to stop playing stupid ass mind games”

“I don’t know what you mean” Rey pronounced furiously.

“That’s what makes this so funny and so bad at the same time” Finn laughed.

Rey huffed.

The car pulled up outside of the townhouse and he turned to Rey “Are you sure you want your own bedroom? I mean I’m sure Ben still wants to slip in and have his wicked way with you, he’s supposedly quite the goer” Finn goaded.

Rey had reached her limit and she exploded, every emotion she had been trying to hold back and bottle up released. She would probably regret it later but right now, she responded to Finns teasing ruthlessly. 

“You are so wrong, it’s disgusting. He’s always been willing to get in my bed but never willing to spend the full night with his whore wife” She snapped. It had been the perfect parting shot. She had hurled herself out of the car as fast as she could but then realised upon reaching the front door that she didn’t have a key and would have to wait for Finn to catch up with her.

“I’m sorry Rey” Finn apologised, sounding truly remorseful. “I wasn’t trying to offend you, though I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe me”

No, Rey didn’t believe him. He had hit too close to home. She levelled a look at Finn, and watched him shrink.

“I was teasing you at Bens expense, he’s being an absolute idiot. He is the one that requested you two share a bedroom, I don’t know if that helps” he ruefully added.

What the hell was that supposed to mean! Why would he even bother? If his family already knew all of the sordid details what was the point in trying to make himself look like the doting husband. 

“You have a key right? Are you going to use it or are we waiting for a written invitation?” Rey bit out harshly.

“No, no. I’ve got a key” Finn answered half-heartedly. Probably sensing that he had truly pushed Rey too far. He pushed open the door and attempted to speak to her again “Rey…”

She was already half way to the stairs, she was furious, tired and confused. Right now, she hated everything, hated everyone and all the things that had led her here. 

“Rey, please don’t tell him what I’ve said. He knows I’ve got a big mouth and he will kill me” Pleaded Finn.

“Good, I hope he does. You can kill each other for all I care.” She burst crossly.

“This isn’t a damned joke” Finn shouted at her. 

And damn hadn’t that been the wrong thing to do right now, she was sick of being treated like this, being brushed aside and mistreated by all the men in her life. Turning on her heel, she let rip.

“No, you’re right, it’s not a joke” she shouted back, glaring at Finn “I’m having his baby, whether he likes it or not, he got me pregnant to get everything he has ever wanted and I’m sick of being punished for it. Sick of everyone making me a laughing st…. oh” she stopped midsentence, her body felt like lead and without much further warning the room turned grey and she sank to the floor.

The next thing Rey knew she was huddled on the floor, her head pounding and Finn crouched down next to her. His face had lost its colour and he was fussing overzealously.

“Force Rey, are you ok? What happened?” He gasped

Rey sat herself up, grasping onto Finns shoulders. “It’s fine” She closed her eyes waiting for the world to stop spinning so violently. “It happens, don’t worry about it, just give me a minute” she breathed softly.

“You fainted” Finn confirmed “That’s something to worry about” 

“Not for me” Rey said “Can you help me up though please, I’d rather be on a bed”

“Oh, yes of course” Finn stood instantly, helping Rey to her feet. Not taking his hand off her for one second.

He helped her to get up the stairs slowly and helped her lay down on the bed. Rey felt guilty for being quite harsh on him before she fainted. He fussed over her again, fluffing pillows and helping her remove her shoes.

“Can I get you something?” He asked helpfully

“Mmmm, some water please” Rey nodded.

“On it” with that he left the room and Rey assumed went downstairs for a glass. A few minutes later he returned with a glass and an apple.

Rey was feeling a lot less dizzy so sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. Taking a small sip of water and smiling at the offered apple.

“Rey, I’m really sorry” He began cautiously “I shouldn’t have teased you like that, honestly I wasn’t trying to be horrible. Ben is being such an ass at the moment and I was just venting, I was wrong. Please don’t tell him, he will be a complete shit to me if he finds out I opened my big mouth” Finn pleaded again.

Rey thought for a second, now she wasn’t so tense she realised she wasn’t overly angry, not at Finn anyway. Finn was right, what would be the point in Rey causing more trouble and drama when there was already enough to go around ten-fold.

“If you don’t tell him I fainted” She held her hand up at the look on Finns face, sensing the objection coming “He knows I have them, you wouldn’t be keeping a secret, just if he knew I fainted he will say I’ve been doing too much and won’t let me go see Jade. She needs me”

“Ok” Finn agreed, though a little reluctantly, “I tell him nothing and you let him stay ion here, please, so he doesn’t figure out I opened my big mouth. Deal?” he countered.

“Sure, why not” She lay back down, not a second later the front door slammed shut and two male voices echoed up the stairs.

Finn patted Reys leg, “I’ll go head him off. You rest. You look beat and if he sees you the jig is up” with that he raced out of the room. 

Rey could hear their voices through the half open door.

“Where’s Rey?” Ben questioned sternly “And why is her bag strewn all over the floor?”

“She’s pregnant Ben, she was desperate for the loo. Now she’s gone to bed and asked you not to disturb her. Any more questions? You’d assume I didn’t know how to look after a pregnant woman” Finn replied cheerfully. 

Obviously challenging Ben to question what he just said. He mustn’t have said anything because the next voice she heard was Poe, who greeted his husband and then the murmured voices disappeared. Rey decided no one was going to come charging in so she stood up, got changed and went to bed.

Rey slept so heavily, she woke up the next morning after ten hours of sleep feeling lethargic and groggy. She assumed from the imprint in the pillow and the ruffle of sheets that Ben had slept in here last night, but she wasn’t sure how long he stayed. 

She tried to convince herself she didn’t care; she was still angry at him for discussing their private life with the rest of the family. It made her feel like an outsider; she had grown close to them whilst she had been here and now, she felt like that had been ripped away. They knew the horrid truth and now she couldn’t believe they would truly like her.

She made herself presentable and then walked downstairs, she was surprised to and relieved to find that both Solo brothers had already left and she was only left with Finn. He was at the kitchen counter, buttering toast before sliding it over to Rey. 

Once they had finished breakfast, Finn drove her over to the hospital, Rey spent the morning talking and drawing with Jade. She had been allowed out of bed so they had made the small walk to the playroom on the children’s ward and then back again. 

They were both just finishing their lunch, Jade was getting back into bed when Ben walked into the room. He barely looked at Rey but gave his full attention to Jade. 

“You look better today” he smiled at her.

Jade looked up to him smiling too, her face lit up like a puppy. She had been starved of love for so long that she was willing to take it in any form, and that form was currently Ben.

“I’ve drawn you a picture” She beamed up at Ben. “It’s to say thank you for my computer, I love it.”

She reached over to pass Ben her sketch pad, inside it contained various pictures, minus the one she had given Rey earlier. It had been a picture of a bride and groom with the little girl tucked between them both. It spoke volumes about the child’s secret wishes, Rey had wanted to sob when she had been handed the picture. It was now tucked safely in her bag. Alongside the book she had been reading to Jade when she was resting.

Now Jade was passing her pictures to Ben enthusiastically, it showed blue skies and a pretty house and beside the house stood, a man and a woman with a small girl and a little baby to the side of them. More wishes from the child shown plainly for anyone willing to look. Rey had told Jade all about the estate in Chandrilla, about the big gardens and the pretty lake and That is what she had drawn, the idealistic heaven she had created in her head.

Rey looked at Ben as he studied the picture, she guessed he truly wasn’t a fool, because the way his eyes widened and a frown appeared suggested he understood exactly what the child had been secretly longing for.

“I have one for the man too, the other one” Jade told Ben shyly

“Finn” Rey added.

“Yeah, Finn” Jade repeated “He brought me the paper and the pens, she said I should draw my operation, so I did” She told them proudly.

The picture was mostly red, completely detailed. When Ben finally looked from his picture to Finns, he let out a small chuckle. “He will love it, it’s very detailed” He declared drily “Thank you for my picture”

Jade had been ready to rest but now she was flitting about excitedly, chattering away. She had shown Ben the gaming device he had bought her and offered to show him how to play it. 

“Shall we play this game?” She asked excitedly “We have too…”

Her voice had dropped and she stiffened. A wave of darkness engulfed the room and Jade along with it, it was like looking at a different child. One minute as light as sunshine and now, she was colourless and withdrawn. She looked hauntingly at the door. Rey followed her gaze and rose jerkily herself.

Reginald Snoke was stood in the door jam, his eyes now fixed on Reys middle. He sneered greedily, his eyes glinting as he took in her very obviously pregnant state.

“Ah, so it’s done then” Satisfaction leaking from every word “Why didn’t you tell me?” he accused Rey. He looked over to Ben “Well done man, well done. I can’t believe it”

Rey looked to Ben and noticed a grim look on his face. His mouth pulled tautly as Snoke shook his hand.

“When do we close the deal then?” Snoke asked eagerly

On the other side of the bed Rey had sat back down and supportively grabbed for the little girl’s hand, just as she had been reaching for Rey. They were both terrified, neither said a word. Not that it really mattered Reginald Snoke didn’t care for either of them, they were just historic baggage.

“You will be notified at the appropriate time” Ben informed him sharply “As it is, Jades health is more important right now”

He had been reminded of his duty and turned slowly to look at Jade lay on the bed, his eyes flickered to their entwined hands “Got Rey back then, I see. The things children will do to get what they want” He said the last bit in Reys direction.

“She didn’t make up having appendicitis” Rey shot back hotly, whilst Jade lowered her head. Avoiding Snokes gaze.

“Hmm” He murmured dubiously “Never mind, she’s fine now. I want to know about my grandson, were you going to tell me or what till the damned thing was over to let me know?”

Rey refused to answer, anything she said wouldn’t be suitable for the little girls’ ears. And her father knew that.

“Like that is it?” He grimaced “Well at least you actually did as you were told, I did wonder. Thought you might have given up at the last hurdle” He sneered, glancing at Jade, “But we all have our price don’t we Rey? Yours was nearly a non-runner, what would you have done?”

It was a cruel thing to say, abominable really, Rey swayed in horror. Thankfully before any words left her mouth Ben had jumped in and taken a hold of Snokes arm.

“We need to talk” Ben pushed “Let’s go for a walk”

They were both out of the door without looking back. Rey didn’t have time to react, to stop them from going. The way he phrased it, the tone of what he said had her slumping terrified back on to the bed.

Surely, he wouldn’t, not after everything, he couldn’t tell her father that he knew. She sat silently, praying to the force and anyone or anything else that would listen that he wouldn’t betray her confidence at let slip that he knew about Jade. She pulled Jade closer to her and willed him not to slip up, not to say anything that would even hint at her having told Ben about Jade.

“Daddy hates me” Jade whispered sadly, looking up at Rey.

“No darling, no one could ever hate you” Rey soothed “He just doesn’t know how to love anything, he never learnt”

As far as Rey knew, that was the truth. Her father didn’t know what love was, his prized ability in life was to show no positive emotion to anyone other than himself. He could close his heart to anyone that crossed his path, her mother, his supposed children and any competitor that had dared cross his path. He had a unique ability to squeeze every inch of anything out of people without an ounce of conscience rearing its head. 

Reginald Snoke, self-proclaimed supreme leader of all, only truly had one regret. He lost the child, the only one that mattered who bore his name. Armitage. He hadn’t cared a bit about blood heir, as long as Armitage had his name that was good enough. It had probably drove him insane that the child he had now bought wouldn’t have his name but that of its father, a Solo. It explained why he had written it into the contract that the child be given Snoke as a second name.

It made Rey sick, the thought of her child having to bear anything pertaining to that man. But here she was, she couldn’t wait for it all to be over, so she could start her life again. Clean with nothing and no one having a hold over her. 

Rey noticed that Ben didn’t come back. She didn’t see him at all through the afternoon. She tried to ignore the ache in the pit of her stomach, what had they talked about? She had tried to remain upbeat for Jade, but was petrified at the thought that they would be separated again, Jade wasn’t as bubbly as before and Rey knew that was her fault. It wasn’t until Finn appeared with Poe behind him that Jade perked up again, the little girls face brightening at Finns gossiping. Poe remained quiet but that was the usual for their interactions, neither really saying much.

She stood up and moved to gaze out of the window, watching the cars pull in and out of the car park. She could hear Finn and Jade excitedly chatting about a new game he had bought for her gaming machine, she also noticed that Poe had looked over to her more than once. 

She heard him rise from the chair and come to stand beside her, still facing towards the bed.

“Are you ok?” He asked softly.

It surprised her, she honestly didn’t think he would care, she turned to face him.

“I’m tired, that’s all” She tried to smile but it just wouldn’t come, so she turned to face out of the window again.

“Ben was going to come back for you, something came up that he needed to sort himself though.” He offered “He asked me to ask you if you could stay up until he gets back tonight. He needed to talk to you about something”

What could he need to talk to her about? Did it involve her father? What if it was Jade? Her stomach turned upside down but she looked to Poe and nodded solemnly.

“Thankyou” He said stoically, before moving away to go stand by his husband once more.

He didn’t like her, Rey knew that. He probably resented everything her family had put his brother through. Probably hated that she was so ingrained into Bens life now that there would be no getting rid of her. 

They left shortly after, with promises from Finn to come and draw more pictures with Jade tomorrow. Once they got back to the house, Rey tried to keep busy. If she could aimlessly move from task to task, she could pretend she wasn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She helped Finn make their meal, though she felt like an intruder sitting at the dining table with them. So, she ate as much as could stomach and then went to the kitchen to start washing the pots. Ben still hadn’t come back to the house and feeling all the tension in her body turning into a headache, she excused herself and went to bed.

She was carefully lowering herself into bed when Ben finally walked through the door. She looked at him and noticed he looked less put together than usual. He looked anxious, his hair ruffled from running his hands through it repeatedly and his tie was already loose.

“Sorry I’m so late” He said tiredly, looking at Rey “This couldn’t wait till morning”

He closed the door, but had yet to make a move towards her. He instead was stood staring pensively at her sat stiffly on the edge of the bed. She radiated tension and he could probably taste it in the air.

He sighed heavily, “Can I take a shower before we talk? Do you mind?” 

“Oh, n..no of course not” She answered. She would have much preferred he get on with it, he was obviously in a grim mood and she didn’t feel much better. Whatever needed to be said she wished he would just hurry up and say it, instead she waited in the exact same spot whilst he went to the bathroom.

Around ten minutes later he reappeared. He was showered, shaved and looking much less weary than he did before. He was covered in a black bathrobe and Reys mind went down a path she wished it hadn’t. Her breath hitched slightly and she felt arousal pool between her legs, she pulled her knees up onto the bed and tried to shrink back defensively against her own thoughts and the effect he had on her.

She never took her eyes off him as he made his way over and sat down on the bed next to her. The tension had increased and the room was almost stifling with it. 

“What’s wrong Ben?” She asked anxiously, not wanting to know but also knowing she could no longer hold back the question.

His eyes flickered to hers softly, he smiled a soft rueful smile. Shaking his head “Nothing” he assured her, his eyes gazing across her face and down to her growing bump. “Nothing you need to worry about anyway”

Then Reys equilibrium was completely thrown, Ben surprised her by raising his hand to her cheek. He cupped it softly and then moved his hand backwards, stroking hair behind her ear and then dropping his hand back down, grazing past her collarbone as he did. All of her senses sharpened, the static that she always felt between them ignited and her heart thudded in her chest. She couldn’t blink and could barely breath. She wanted him, her body reminding her exactly how irresistible she found this man.

“I have to go back to Chandrilla” he announced, and like that the tension broke. She could breath again, blinking up at him he continued “I’ll be gone about three weeks”

Reality hit her full force, she was so vulnerable for this man and she didn’t know how to handle it. What would he ask her to do now? Would she be made to go with him?

“I accept you can’t leave Jade yet” He continued, both sending relief flooding her and fear for what was next “So I’ve arranged for you to stay with Poe and Finn”

Thank the force, at least he wasn’t asking her to go back to Chandrilla with him, but staying here alone with his brother Poe wasn’t exactly filling her full of joy either. Finn would make it bearable but Poe hated her. She supposed she had lived with worse, so would stomach it for how ever long she needed to. For jade.

“The other issue is Jade” he went on, almost as if he had read her mind “She will be discharged from hospital in a day or two”

“That’s ok, I’ll stay with her at my fathers” Rey insisted “I won’t need to put anyone out here”

Ben was already violently shaking his head “No, that’s not going to happen. I won’t expose you to your father in you condition. I’ve made a deal with him”

Reys spine straightened and ice-cold fear shot through her “He doesn’t know does he? Did you tell him?” she asked tensely 

“Of course I didn’t” He snapped at her “I’m not a monster, do you think I didn’t see the way she shrivelled in his presence, how you could barely hold yourself up? You think I enjoyed seeing you both react like that?”

Rey avoided his eyes, looking down at her hands whilst she fiddled with her wedding ring. He had enjoyed watching her cringe back from him a few months ago, why not now?

She could sense his anger, until he sighed deeply “You can’t bring yourself to trust me even a little bit, can you?” Ben muttered “What do you think I’m going to say next? That I have sold you into isolation for the remainder of your pregnancy?”

“Why not?” She fired back “I was there before we came here, it’d be just as easy to put me back there?”

“I have offered to take Jade out of your fathers care for the next three weeks, until she returns to school” He cut in “Your father agreed, so long as you both stay in this house and she does not leave the country”

“He agreed to that?” Rey asked, unbelieving of what she was hearing

“He practically bit my hand off, couldn’t wait to get rid of her” he answered in disgust “Apparently, Mrs Phasma is due to take an annual holiday, he had been unable to arrange any other childcare and decided you being here worked well in his favour.”

“Oh” she said taken aback by how much thought Ben had put into this “Thankyou” she whispered finally.

“That’s not all” he announced, any softness in his voice long gone “I have my own provisos to add to the deal. The main one being, promise me you will come back to Chandrilla. The day Jade goes back to school, you come back. I’m trusting you with this, I won’t be able to get back here to collect you myself so I’m trusting your word that you will come back to me”

“I’ll come back Ben” She promised honestly, because she had never really considered doing anything but returning. She remembered her side of the deal; his son would be born in Chandrilla. “I’ll drive jade back and get on the next flight b….”

He interrupted her “My private plane will be waiting for you on the airfield next to Jades school. And you won’t be driving anywhere” he went on grimly “One of my drivers will be available to you at all times, I will leave you with all the numbers you need but you aren’t to drive.”

“I have a car” She protested loudly “It’s sat on my fathers drive, doing nothing, I can drive”

“Not whilst you keep fainting you can’t” He responded 

“I don’t keep fainting” She denied hotly, knowing it wasn’t entirely the truth.

“Ok, but those ‘dizzy spells’ affect you too quickly for you to be really safe behind the wheel. I saw how you barely kept yourself together in front of your father” He added, holding his hand up when she went to protest again “It’s your choice, forego driving, or come back to Chandrilla with me now”

She knew he was only trying to protect his investment “Yes, oh master” she replied sarcastically

He had been about to stand up when Rey had said that, but instead he stilled and turned his dark eyes to hers. Rey felt a frisson of warning shoot down her spine, she recognised that look. She knew it well.

“You know….” He replied super softly “you are in real danger of baiting once too often Tesoro. And despite the delicacy of your condition and your fragile protective shell, I will retaliate. You forget I know your secret”

“I don’t know what you mean” She said warily and breathlessly.

“No?” he moved closer to her; she could feel his breath on her face. Her eyelashes quivered and she clung tightly to the bedsheet beside her. “Let’s see shall we”

With that he moved his hand to her cheek, and covered her trembling mouth with his own. It was like being tossed into a red-hot furnace, she caught fire quickly. Her mind followed and she couldn’t stop her hands rising to the nape of his neck and pulling him closer. Clinging to him, she hadn’t even noticed how much she had been trying to take when she felt him forcefully pull back from her.

“You see….” He whispered silkily, touching his thumb to her lower lip “Your secret, you may try to hate me but you can’t resist me”

She wanted to slap him, how dare he use that against her, he caught her hand on the ascent to his face. Pressing a soft kiss to her palm, his eyes bored into her. He humiliated her further when he felt him lick a velvet stripe across her hand, he knew it would affect her. Her breathing cantered as the sensation sent a message straight to her groin. 

“I can delay my flight to Chandrilla for an hour or two, if you would like” he offered

That stung her deeply and humiliated what was left of her pride. Her eyes flashed to his, spitting angrily “Only an hour or two?” Scathingly she added “that about sums your attitude to sex up, doesn’t it? A quick fumble and you’re gone again before the sheets have time to warm up”

He should have been angry, she wanted him to be. She wanted him to walk out, to prove her right. Instead he took the challenge and ran with it.

“You want more than that then? A whole night of passion maybe?” he answered arrogantly

She laughed scornfully “You aren’t capable of spending the whole night in my bed ben”

She saw his eyes darken, maybe she had finally pushed him enough. “Your dreadful opinion of me really does need fixing” he said curtly. Standing up he grabbed for his robe and started to remove it.

“What are you doing?” She choked “Ben, don’t…” She protested huskily. She knew damn well what he was doing and it was pointless trying to pretend otherwise. Her eyes shifted to his chest.

He didn’t stop at her protests, continuing to remove his robe. Reys mouth went dry, she was paralysed with need, fascination and horror at the magnificent naked man now stood in front of her.

She gasped at the sight of him, her eyes travelling from his chest up to his face. Taking in every detail of his chiselled body on the way up. Her eyes met his and sparks flew, he stepped towards her and at last she had the wherewithal to attempt to escape. She slithered off the bed, but his arm wrapped around her before she got far. His hand settling between her bump and her core. He turned her around and backed her onto the bed, laying her down softly than he had ever done before.

“I’m pregnant” She tried, hoping that reminding him would deter him.

“I’m aware” he looked down at her longingly.

He slid his arm beneath her, angling her up towards him, her shirt had ridden up and her naked bump fitted perfectly into the concave of his stomach. He gasped unsteadily, eyes closing as he lay his forehead against hers. The reaction to being this close to his child tearing down any barrier he was holding up.

Captivated entirely by his reaction to their child, Rey released a soft shaky sigh. He must have heard it and felt how the air brushed across his face because he opened his eyes. They were almost pitch black and she wanted to throw herself into the depths of them.

He didn’t speak, didn’t say a single word, but they hadn’t needed to. They both knew what they could see in each other’s eyes. Desire. It was too much for them both and the dam finally broke, neither of them willing to fight it.

The last thought she had, before she let him take over her so completely was that he was right. She couldn’t resist him and didn’t want to. Especially when he looked at her like that and when he reacted to their baby so honestly.

Her eyes closed and she surged forward to close the gap between their open mouths. They were joined entirely from mouth, to chest, to hip. It was so easy to give in to it. To want it.

For the next few hours they lost themselves in each other, everything outside of the bedroom meaning nothing to them.

“Why?” Rey asked, a few hours later when they were lying together, Limbs tangled and exhausted. “You rejected me the first night here, why?”

“I promised you I wouldn’t touch you again once you were pregnant?” he replied

“You made that promise to yourself Ben” Rey corrected “I never asked for it”

He pulled her closer, sighing “Well it’s a broken promise now. One I don’t want to reinstate” He looked down to her. She nodded. 

He kissed her, slowly languidly. Moulding their bodies back together. She was drawn deeply into him, into the pit of pleasure only he could give her. They eventually drifted off. She was wrapped in his arms, his fingers gently grazing across her arm. It felt wonderful, so unlike anything else, like a promise for the future.

Yet when she awoke the next morning, her joy turned to dust. The bed was empty. He was gone, the same as before.

What did that mean? He was happy to throw sex back into the mix as long as everything returned to the status quo.

She wasn’t entirely sure if her heart could take much more than this.


	9. The Duplicity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go.... :) I truly hope you have enjoyed this so far and I hope you will love how it all ends.

Jade was released from hospital three days later, and the time Rey spent with her went far too quickly. It was weeks of fun and laughter, more pleasant than she would have expected. Poe’s attitude towards her had changed, he had softened remarkably, though she suspected that the change had been forced from him by the little girl. Jade was so eager to please, that Poe Dameron Solo could be nothing less than perfectly pleasant to her and that seemed to pass over to Rey as well.

Everywhere Jade went, her fluffy porg, her pens and paper and her Nintendo followed. Every night, she insisted that someone read her story, if Finn was the chosen reader, she would at least ask for several stories and he would gladly give them.

When in their company, Jade followed them around like a love starved puppy, waiting to be seen and noticed. So, she could once again be shown affection. Whenever Rey and Jade weren’t with Finn and Poe, she would talk about them non-stop about the men that would make her smile and laugh and run around with her. She would explain how wonderful they were for letting her stay at their house, she was so grateful it was pitiful and it bought tears to Reys eyes to see.

She bounced back from her operation the only way a child could, resiliently and with wonder. However, she also fretted with the vulnerability of a child. She was so frightened that time would draw to an end and she would be back at school alone and Rey would leave to go back to Chandrilla.

“You’ll forget about me; you’ll have a new baby to love. Nothing left for me” Jade confided in her one night as she lay in bed. Finn had given her the room next to Reys and they had slept with the adjoining door open every night, so she could go and cuddle with Rey in the morning when she woke.

“New babies don’t steal love darling” Rey whispered gently “They just want to share it. Are you ok with that? Will you share all of my love between you and this new baby?”

“Will Ben let me come and visit?” She asked “Will he let me share you too?”

“Of course he will, he was the one who convinced daddy to let you stay here with me. He wanted you to be happy” She said. Honestly, for all his faults Rey knew he had been telling the truth when he said he couldn’t stand to see Jade so distressed. 

“Finn said Ben likes children, He said Ben likes me because I look so much like you” She said happily. 

Rey thought about it and smiled. It was a very kind thing of Finn to say and she made a mental note to Thank him for his kindness when she saw him. Not long after Jade was asleep and Rey made her way downstairs.

Finn just shrugged when she mentioned Jades admission “It was only the truth. Ben really does like children and he’s got himself so tied up over you that he’s bound to love her just because she looks like you”

Tied up over her? He must have that wrong. Sexually maybe but nothing more, surely.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about” She said dismissively.

“No?” Finn grinned “I don’t suppose Ben ever told you about his mistress, did he?” 

Rey stiffened, not liking where this was going.

“Of course he did, he’d have told you just to score points off you. I know how his mind works, bet he didn’t tell you that he broke things off with her before you even said ‘I do’” Finn offered up “Of course he didn’t, bet he had you believing all sorts of things. He couldn’t bare to touch another woman, knowing you were his. But that’s Ben” he went on “He’s committed, completely and truly to whatever he turns his attention to”

“Like the lump of rock out in the ocean that he bargained for a child” She said derisively. She refused to believe Finn, she couldn’t. If she started to believe that then everything she knew about Ben changed, and it would make her weak to him. She was already too vulnerable around him.

“Recovering the family island has been very important to both of them. Its been a goal for ten years, the sole reason they’ve made it this far” Finn agreed “But be forced to marry a stranger, produce a child, that’s a little far even for Ben” He added sagely “But then I met you and well, I feel like he might have brought it all on himself”

“No, Ben isn’t to blame for this” She defended him though she was unsure as to why “My father is a master at what he does” She added bitterly.

“Be that as it may, your father knew exactly why Ben wanted the island back...” he acknowledged “A promise to your dying mother is a wonderful motivator, you don’t really get a bigger incentive than that for a Chandrilan son” 

“His mother…?” Rey asked sharply “He promised his dying mother?”

Finn looked to Rey and tilted her head “You don’t know?” Surprise tinged his voice. “Follow me, it’ll be easier if I show you” 

With that Finn took hold of Reys hand and dragged her towards a room she hadn’t yet stepped foot in. They stepped through the door and then Finn turned Rey to face the back wall. In front of her stood a larger version of the picture back at ‘Skywalker Brewery Inc’s head office. Varykino. She recognised it instantly and her heart stalled.

“Bens mother had this painted before she sold the island, it was a reminder of everything that they all loved. Did you know Han Solo is buried there, along with Shara and Kes Dameron? They were family, maybe not by blood but by so much more. Poe parents died when he was a small boy, he only really remembers his mum. The Solos adopted him, there was no other family to take him. So, my husband became a Solo. Ben and Poe are inseparable, they’ve shared so much loss and grief”  
She pointed to a small patch on the picture “You see that area there; it looks like a garden. It’s not, it’s a graveyard. Its where Bens mother should be, but she’s not. She died after the island was sold, both of those boys have been trying to get her back home ever since. The boys were too young to help her, running the business was too much for her. The business plummeted, her health along side it until eventually she gave up. She made him promise, promise to get the island back and return her heart to where it belonged. Do you understand now?”

Understand? Was he joking? She now understood everything, her heart broke. Bens island wasn’t just a lump of rock. It was a part of his family, its where both of the brothers lay their parents, where his mother needed to be laid to rest. 

Her father, oh force, the true impact of what he had done it her. He knew exactly what the island meant to Ben and he had used it, callously. It wasn’t just blackmail. It was emotional, lower than she had ever imagined.

Her hand rose to her mouth “I’m going to be sick” She ran from the room to the bathroom. She couldn’t stop it; she lay on the bathroom floor after what felt like hours. Her head resting against the cold tile. What a mess.

It was ironic really that Ben chose to call her later that night, when she couldn’t pretend everything was fine.

“Are you ok? Finn said you’ve been sick?” he asked tersely 

“Yeah, I think I ate too fast.” She answered, the lie rolling off her tongue “I’m fine now” she dismissed, thankful that Finn had not mentioned why she was sick.

She knew why she had been sick and thinking about it again caused her stomach to turn. She had said so many horrible things, they were all coming back to haunt her. She had thought she held the higher ground, doing what she had done for family but now she knew, he had been doing the exact same thing. She had been so self-righteous. 

“Don’t overdo it now Jade is with you” He commanded curtly

“I’m not” She defended “She’s easy to entertain”

She heard him sigh “Yes, she is. Too easy. Have you seen your father?”

Rey frowned, was his sharp tone aimed at her? “No” she replied

“Good. That’s the last thing anyone needs” Ben gritted out.

“Is that why you are calling?” she enquired, he didn’t usually call at all so why would he be bothered now. “If it is, you needn’t have worried, he won’t show up here. I’ll be surprised if we hear from him until the baby is born, he’s already confirmed his plan is in motion”

“Hmmm, does that bother you?”

Rey didn’t have to think, the lack of affection from her father had long since meant nothing to her. “No, it doesn’t. I’d be happy if I never had to see or hear from him again”

Ben didn’t answer that, he seemed to skip over it entirely. “I’ve two reasons for calling you, its supposed to be your monthly check up this week” he told her becoming business-like once more “It would be ridiculous to bring you back here to the estate for that so I’ve spoken to your doctor and they have transferred your notes and arranged an appointment for you at their coruscant clinic on Tuesday”

He proceeded to tell her the details of the Dr and the address she would need to get to. The car had already been arranged to get her there on time.

“The other reason I called, I realised once I got here, I have your passport in my briefcase. I must have put it in there on our flight out originally, that’s irrelevant though, I noticed its in your maiden name so it’s actually invalid.” He informed her briskly.

“Oh, I didn’t realise” That was true, Rey hadn’t given a thought to her passport at all. She hadn’t even known that her marriage would make it invalid “That’s ok, I can probably get a new one here before I need to fly back”

“I’ve already arranged for the paperwork” He announced “Poe has the forms and knows what needs to be done to get it fast-tracked through. I’ve sent him our marriage certificate to authorise the name change. You’ll need to sign the forms, but Poe has arranged for the new photos and documents. Will you be able to do that in the morning?”

“Of course I can” She said stubbornly “I could have handled the rest too you know, I’m pregnant not stupid”

“I never said you were Rey” He sighed “I just assumed you’d want to devote your time to Jade, not running around sorting forms” His tone was meant as reminder, she could hear the condescension, like he was telling her to remember why she was here.

She knew why she was here and it irked her that he was trying to remind her.

“Are we finished?” She said stubbornly, even to her own ears she sounded childish.

She heard Ben mutter something in Chandrilan, though shew didn’t understand it, it sounded suspiciously like profanity. Then he huffed a sigh. “Why? Why every time I try to have a conversation with you, do you turn it into a battle?” He asked wearily

“Why do you have to be such a condescending arrogant arse?” She threw back at him, she didn’t know why she wanted to argue.

“I’m just trying to save you the hassle of arranging paperwork” He reasoned

“I don’t like my life being organised for me, that’s happened for long enough” She snapped back.

“Damn it Rey, I’m just trying to help” he responded hotly “I just want to help you, what will it take for you to realise I’m your ally not your enemy?”

What will it take? Ha, she needed him to stop tying her up in knots. Stop making her feel all of the things she did for him without even trying. She didn’t even know what to call him, ally, enemy, husband, friend. She just didn’t know. So, she slammed the phone down and stood shaking.

She was angry, angry at herself and at him. She wished she could pretend she didn’t know why but of course she did. All she wanted was for him to care about her, to show her consideration but when he does Rey was so terrified that it might all be an act that she threw herself off the deep-end.

Poe had brought the forms to her the next evening, he had asked her to fill out two copies. When she frowned, he had sheepishly voiced his concern at messing something up so wanted a backup. She had smiled at him and signed both copies, then handed over the new photos that had been taken that afternoon.

Finn had taken her and Jade out for lunch and some shopping and whilst they had been out, they had found a photobooth. After they had all had a turn taking very serious photos, they had descended into chaos and taken a lot of silly posed pictures.

Rey now had an entire folder full of silly and cute pictures of Jade. Some with her in the picture, some with Finn. Most of them pulling funny faces to the camera. 

Rey also kept her appointment for the Coruscant Clinic, the car had picked her up sharply at noon for her appointment. They had given her the works; the Dr had explained that they had received most of the files but wanted to do their own tests to ensure all was going well. Blood pressure had been taken, urine and blood samples and an additional ultrasound.

The Dr had discovered that her blood sugar had been dropping which accounted for her dizzy spells, so advised always keeping a snack handy. Other than that, she was fighting fit and so was her baby. She left the clinic on a high, feeling relieved everything was going fine. She also had a new black and white image of her baby which made her heart flutter every time she looked at it.

“Did it hurt?” Finn asked her when she arrived home, looking at the little picture.

“What? The scan?” Rey asked, noticing the wistful look on Finns face. Did he want children with Poe? “No, it doesn’t hurt, they just poke you around a bit to get a good shot” She laughed

Finn handed her the picture back, it felt almost reluctant. Rey felt for him, she hoped that maybe one day in the future she could bring up the subject of children with him and his husband. Maybe she could save her child’s clothes for a new Solo baby.

As the rest of the week went by Ben didn’t call, he hadn’t even called to ask about the appointment. That hurt her more than she wanted to admit. She thought maybe they had gone past that stage but then they had argued the last time they spoke. Still, she had wanted to believe he cared.

As the weekend rolled round though, she forgot about her disappointment and instead was trying to prepare herself for the realisation that Jade would be going back to School on the Monday. Even Jade herself had become quieter. No one was prepared to leave each other yet. Which is why, come Saturday night, Finn found her sobbing whilst folding Jades uniform.

“Oh Rey, don’t do this to yourself” Finn had wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tried to calm her.

“I can’t bear it” she sobbed harder “I can’t stand to leave her, I hate it. She hates the school, she has been so happy with me, with a family over the past few weeks and now she’s got to go back to that damned school. How can I be ok with that? She will be alone again, it’ll break her. Its breaking me” The tears were now coming fully, her breath stuttering.

“Oh force, I can’t watch this, Rey listen to me” he rushed on “It’s going to be ok….”

“Finn, do not meddle” The abruptness of Poe’s tone stopped him in his tracks. Neither of them had heard him come in.

“Poe, please” he pleaded “If Ben knew what this was doing to her…”

“I said don’t interfere Finn” He repeated obstinately 

Rey looked at Poe, though their relationship had never been great in that moment even she was intimidated by him. He looked exactly like Ben standing there, commanding that his husband obey. 

She sniffled quietly; she knew this was inevitable. She and Ben had a deal and it was always going to end this way, her emotions were just playing up. The end result was worth too much for her to stumble now.

“It’s fine. I’m fine” She stood up straighter. Smoothing out the creases she had put into one of Jades shirts. “It’s ok, thank you for caring though” 

She looked to both Finn and Poe. Finns face was grim and he looked at his husband sternly before walking from the room.

“We all care Rey” Poe stepped closer “I know it probably doesn’t feel that way and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe me, but I promise we all care for you and Jade too” He patted her arm and then walked out of the room, probably in search of his aggrieved husband.

The next morning, Jades trunk left for the school via courier and then the morning after the dreaded day came when Rey was going to have to say Goodbye to her daughter again.

They had both had to do this a million times before but this morning felt different, Rey was pale and felt sick. Jade was dressed smartly, her black and white uniform pristine, but tears in her eyes just waiting to fall. 

They had eaten breakfast together, Jade holding Reys hand as they lifted their spoons to their mouths with a free hand. It had reached the time to leave and when Rey walked out of the door, she was surprised to find that Bens chauffeur was nowhere to be seen. 

Then Finn perked up from behind her “We are coming with you” At her look of confusion he added “Bens orders”

Bens orders, of course. She wanted to smile at the phrase, but it just wouldn’t reach her lips.

The journey to the school was heart wrenching, Jade was sat between Finn and herself whilst Poe sat upfront in the drivers’ seat. Jades hand rested in Reys, gripping tightly. Rey tried to keep the little girl calm, they talked about all the fun things they had done. Rey explained that she had put a new photo in her trunk, Finn cut in and let Jade know he had also smuggled some new colours into her belongings for school.

The miles went by far too quickly and soon Jade must have recognised her surroundings as her whole body tensed beside Rey. A few miles out from the school, tears began to fall. Rey clung to the little girl tighter. At that point Finn had tentatively taken Jades other hand.

“What an adventure, I’ve never been this way before” He tried to say, forced lightness evident to Rey in his tone.

“I hate it” Jade sobbed

“Ah but look” Finn promoted, pointing out of the window “There’s an airfield there, how beautiful. Oh, look there’s a plane sitting on the tarmac”

Airfield. The thought of it made Rey blood turn cold. She shivered.

“Did you know? Ben has a plane that looks just like that one” Finn said brightly, no falseness rested in his voice now “Do you think maybe Ben has come here…?”

Reys eyes shot up “What’s going on?” She had felt the car slow at the turning for the airfield when it should have carried on forward. “Poe, why have we turned?” she demanded

To her utter dismay and confusion, Poe smiled and Finn chuckled softly. He looked down to Jade. “A magical mystery tour” he told her excitedly.

“No” Rey stiffened “No!” She gasped harshly as horrified suspicion sank into her. The car beginning to come to a halt. “Finn, this can’t…”

But Finn was already clamouring out of the car, pulling an exuberant Jade along with him.

“Poe?” She looked up catching his eyes.

“Trust us, please” He rushed out before jumping out of the car to join his husband. That’s when Reys panic set in.

“You can’t, you can’t do this” She climbed out of the car, probably faster than she should have. As she stood up fully, she saw, both Finn and Jade disappear into the small plane. “No!” She shouted, she felt her body start to hyperventilate, Poe’s arm came to rest around her shoulders “Poe, please you can’t do this. You don’t understand” she gasped.

“Believe me, I understand” He soothed her, whilst pulling her towards the plane “I understand what this means Rey, but trust us. Trust Ben. He has your best interests at heart”

Best interests? Her blood pressure began to rise, she could see spots starting to dance across her vision. She started to stumble, her body out of control and near to collapse. She looked up, frantically searching for Jade. She saw her in the doorway of the plane and a man crouched next to her.

“Ben” She gasped

His eyes shot up to hers, his face filled with such determination that any hope Rey had of this all being a mistake were washed away. As if it had been rehearsed, Jade looked to her and smiled a toothy grin.

“Rey, I’m coming with you. Ben says I’m coming to live with you, I don’t have to go back to school” Her voice was filled with joy, she jumped on the spot. 

“No, Ben Please” She breathed in horror “You can’t do this”

“Go and find Finn, He’s always messing around in the cockpit” He urged Jade into the plane and then stood up to his full height.

He took a step towards Rey, he looked so laid back and casual and as always, her body responded even with the additional turmoil running through it.

“Be calm Rey, please” He murmured soothingly “There is no need to panic….”

Panic? No need to panic? Her heart thudded dangerously and she began to shake. Of course there was a need to panic. This was crazy. This was all wrong. It was going to ruin everything. Finally, her brain switched off.

Behind her she heard the plane doors close with a muffled thud. She felt the planes engines whir in to life and the jet pick up speed. Her whole body shook, a violent reaction to the situation. Clammy horror flared through her, as she started to come too fully.

She found herself lay across two seats; a pillow tucked under her head. Ben was squatted down beside her, anxiously fiddling with the buttons on her top. He looked paler and grimmer faced than usual, anger glinting, though why she didn’t understand.

“I swear on everything in the force, you will spend the rest of this pregnancy in a stress free zone” He railed at her as she opened her eyes “Don’t think I’m happy about this business like dressing either” The buttons he had been fiddling with finally sprang free and he leant back into his heels looking up and down her.

Rey still felt too weak to attempt to fight back, she went to cover her face with her hands and then sat up abruptly. She realised again, more lucidly this time, that the plane was already in the air heading away from Coruscant. She looked around and realised they were alone. “Where’s Jade?” she demanded jerkily.

“She’s up in the galley with Finn, having the time of her life, eating a years’ worth of sugary sweets” He smiled candidly “We told her you were sleeping, she didn’t see you swoon into my arms”

She swooned? She wasn’t even surprised. She had been swooning from the start. Regardless of what she thought of Ben, enemy or not it had never made a difference.

“Is anything elkse tight on you?” he asked, whilst trying to remove the jacket she had on.

“Will you stop that” She snapped, batting his hands away from her. It didn’t stop him from continuing to remove the jacket and toss it aside. His mouth still set in a firm line.

He seemed to be trying to reign in his temper, a deep sigh escaped his lips and his shoulders rolled back. “I’m sorry about all the cloak and dagger stuff” He looked to her and noticed her look of incredulity “I am. I didn’t mean to scare you like this. But if I had told you, you would have warned your father about what I was going to do”

She would have, Rey would openly admit that. “Why Ben?” She cried “Why do this now? He will take this out on her. You must know that. He will punish her for what we have done, for such senseless defiance”

“There’s no defiance” He said honestly, as she watched him move backwards into the chair across from her. He crossed his ankle over his knee and leant forward. His eyes bore into hers, an expression so stark, she knew he was about to drop a bombshell. “I’m calling the deal off”

Rey just sat there, staring at him open mouthed. Here eyes must have let him know that she had not absorbed what he said at all. He remained silent, but she could feel the blood drain from her face and the tears well in her eyes, as his words began to take hold of her. Their deal was off.

She shuddered “Our deal?” She whispered tragically.

It was not the answer he had been expecting, that was obvious by the way his eyes widened and he shook his head “No, No. That’s a completely different issue that I’ll come back to at a later date. The deal with your father, I am calling it off. I know that he will not take that well, which is why I am moving both of you back to Chandrilla with me, so I have you both under my protection”

“Protection?” She repeated. He was placing them under his protection but by doing that he had removed the only true protection they both had. “How can you say that? She’s still legally his daughter. He can come and take her back, no questions asked” She cried

“You wanted to leave her behind?” He questioned her harshly “Wanted to dump her at the school and leave?” 

No, she didn’t “That’s not the point Ben, My father…” She sighed before being cut off.

“Can do whatever the hell he likes and id like to see him try. The only way he will ever see either of you again is if he goes through the legal channels”, He threw himself back into the chair with an air of indifference.

“This is abduction” Rey gasped in horror at the situation and at his cavalier attitude. “You could be arrested; you could be taken away” She tried to make him see.

“Have some faith” He muttered, irritating Rey to no end.

Faith? Was he joking? Faith in what? In him? “Jade doesn’t even have a passport” She told him.

His expression didn’t falter, instead he reached his hand into his jacket pocket and placed two passports in front of her. She picked them from his hand and opened one after another. One was hers and when she looked at the other, she saw a miniature version of herself. Jade it appeared, did have a passport after all. 

“H... How? How did you get this?” She whispered.

“Careful planning” He smirked.

“But…” The words clogged her mouth, she looked down at the image again. She had seen this picture before, it was a copy of the one she had in a folder in her bag. And then it all clicked into place.

Finn.

The full level of duplicity hit her, everyone around her had been working on this and kept it a secret.

“I see. You’ve all been very busy” She managed

“I think the word you are looking for is thorough” Ben smirked again, she was about ready to slap that off his face.

“So, you even got my father’s permission?” She mocked

“We didn’t need to; you signed the forms” He answered.

“What?” She stared at him uncomprehending, then a split second later a light bulb went off, “Poe. He said copies” She had signed the forms. She had thought they were back ups but no, they were for her daughter.

“We will all end up in prison” She yelped wretchedly

To her absolute fury, and Ben truly was lucky she still felt to weak to punch him, he smiled at her. He never smiled at her and now he was choosing too in such a terrible situation.

“Calm down” He grabbed the passports back “No one will question our connection to her, she is practically a miniature version of you”

“Its not right Ben. We could have waited; I could have waited. A few more months and we would have had everything. Why now?” She pleaded with him softly

He turned his face from hers and closed down completely “I’m not going to answer that question right now” He stood up abruptly and Rey felt panic rise again.

“No Ben, I need you to deal with it now” She grabbed hold of his wrist, dragging him towards her “Please” She begged.

He shook her loose and walked away grimly. Leaving Rey staring after him, unsure what to do next. The remainder of the flight was tense, it dripped off every surface. Finn and Poe tried to coax her into pleasant conversation but other than speaking to Jade, she couldn’t be roused from her stupor. 

Jade was so excited when the pilot advised them all to get themselves strapped in, she had been watching out of the window and Poe had pointed out the Chandrilan estate. Everyone could feel the sheer exhilaration bubbling under the surface of the child’s smile.

They landed at the private airstrip and piled into the 7-seater car. Whilst driving to the estate Rey kept looking around expecting to see flashing lights from official cars, trying to catch them to arrest them under order from her father. It never came.

She found herself safe within the grounds behind a locked gate before she knew it. Jade had sat between Finn and Poe on the way to the house chattering excitedly whilst Reys blood pressure skyrocketed. 

She was stressed, angry and terrified. She had been left out of everything, this whole situation had been thrust upon her and she didn’t know how it would end or what would happen next. She felt betrayal, cold hard betrayal. Rey had found herself trusting them, all of them. Considering them, something close to the family she wished she had, and now she realised she had been right all along. Trusting people was weakness. 

Jade had trusted them too; she was so happy. Reys eyes began to water. Jade thought she was free, she was blossoming in front of them all, finally able to show affection and be loved. It would all be taken away from her.

The car came to a halt in front of the main house. Everyone in the back of the car climbed out, some eagerly, some solemnly. The sun shone down beautifully, lighting the grounds up in an ethereal glow. Jades mouth opened wide. The look of a child who was so blown away she had no words.

Jade looked around and to no one in particular said “Is this going to be my new home?” She smiled in wonder “Is it truly?”

Rey spun to face Ben across the bonnet of the car “If you hurt her with this, I will never, ever forgive you!” She said thickly and gravely before turning and running into the house.


	10. The Contented Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys,  
> So this is it, The End. I can not thank all of my readers enough for following me as I wrote this story. I am appreciative of every reader, every comment, Kudos and subscription. You have made writing this story so much fun for me, I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to get this last chapter up. Life happened haha but thankyou for being patient.  
> I hope you enjoy the ending and it isn't a let down to anybody. As usual any questions, I will be happy to answer.   
> The summer holidays for my children are now over so hopefully, I will find time to write because I still plan to do a Bens POV at some point.  
> Love to you all.   
> Claire xx

Rey didn’t manage to get far; she had made it to the hallway before Ben caught up with her. Wrapping a warm hand tightly around her wrist.

“Let go” she seethed

Bens grip only tightened and he practically frogmarched her up the stairs, he pulled her towards her bedroom and she had no choice but to follow him. The door slammed behind them as he turned Rey around so she was face to face with him.

He locked his hands onto her shoulders and she looked up into his face, noticing that though tears were streaming down her face they were also present in his eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt Jade; I won’t let anyone hurt her” Ben blasted at her furiously “I’m not doing this to hurt you either”

“Then why? Why are you doing it? Why are you risking everything?” She spat at him

“I’ve told you why, I’m pulling out of the deal with your father” He ground out.

“But why Ben? Why? You haven’t told me anything, you never tell me anything” She pleaded repeatedly.

She saw his eyes glance to the ceiling and his face softened. When he looked back seconds later, she couldn’t understand the look in his eyes. 

“For force sake Rey, because of this” He whispered, before stepping forward and lowering his mouth to hers. She felt the full force of this kiss as he wrapped his arms around her back, one holding her closer whilst the other moved up to her neck.

He stopped slowly, pulling back slightly before pressing one small kiss to her lips. He then looked down at Rey, she was struggling to catch her breath. Her body and her mind were struggling to keep up with each other.

His hand moved to her cheek “Rey, I want you, I want our child, I want Jade too, I need you all more than I need my families island” He said fiercely “Is that enough of a reason?” He repeated her own words back to her from weeks ago.

Rey felt her face pale, he couldn’t mean that. It was impossible, no one had ever wanted her, claimed to need her above their own ambitions. Her body trembled, she refused to believe it, though his eyes said everything he admitted was true. He was looking into her face so earnestly that her heart was begging for her to believe him.

“Please don’t faint on me” He muttered, as he picked her up bridal style and moved towards the bed. “Why is it every time I attempt to have a conversation with you I either piss you off and you yell at me or you pass-out? It makes it real difficult to say anything meaningful”

He placed her softly on the bed and crouched down beside her.

“You are driving me crazy, I am completely out of my mind trying to figure out how to talk to you” he growled “I don’t know how to approach you unless I use our passion against you, If I try to talk to you outside of the bedroom I feel like I’m on eggshells. You are a minefield of mistrust and self-doubt that I don’t know what to say. And if by some miracle I’ve managed to start a conversation you do this” He gestured to her whilst continuing his rant.

“I’m not doing anything” She protested softly

“You are shaking all over” He brushed off her assurance 

She stared at him firmly “That’s because you’re shouting at me”

“I’m not…. Damn it” He grunted halfway through his shouted denial “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to” he raised his hand to his neck.

She sat up from her prone position, swinging her legs off the bed so her feet dangled between his split thighs. He sighed lowering his head, raking his hands through his hair impatiently. She tentatively placed her hand over his and stopped him. He looked up at her then, the tears were back dancing on his lower lashes. Before she had a chance to speak, he rose up and thrust his hands into his pockets as he walked over to the window.

She could see his muscles tense as he tried to gain his lost composure “Ben?...” She whispered though he had yet to turn around he cut her off.

“I need you to understand Rey, I’m doing this for you” He muttered suddenly “I needed both of you, all three of you” He gestured at her growing abdomen “Safe here with me before I made a move on your father”

She stood up then, considering whether she should step closer to him “But why bother at all? This was all nearly over” She asked, still no clue as to why he had changed his mind now “You would have had us, all three of us. And my father would have had his grandson”

“No” he turned to face her

“Yes” she refuted, taking her first tentative and shaky step towards him, she truly hoped he would catch her if she stumbled “Breaking the deal off with him now changes nothing, He gets what he wants. I’m still pregnant with your son”

“No, you’re not” He smiled thinly

“Excuse me, what?” Rey blinked “I’m not what?” she demanded, looking down at her bump and back to Bens face which was tense though happy. She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting him to say but she tensed her body waiting for the hammer to drop.

“You aren’t carrying my son Rey” He spoke slowly, basically spelling out his words.

“What?” She couldn’t help it, she laughed gesturing down at her bump, “I’ve not imagined this Ben, I’ve not imagined peeing a thousand times a day” She mocked “What do you think this is? An optical illusion?” She stroked her swollen abdomen.

He huffed “Its my daughter” 

She stopped stock still, that couldn’t be, they had been so sure. Or had they, had anyone actually checked, other than rumour had anyone actually gone out of their way to check the baby’s gender.

“Sit down again, please” He half requested half demanded, stepping back towards her and leading her to the bed, she could feel her legs about to give up and her vision blur. “Force, how can a woman as strong as you be so physically frail?”.

“I’m not frail” She said brokenly “I just, I just don’t understand, Well I do but I” She wasn’t really making much sense so she decided to close her mouth.

“I know its been a family tradition of sorts, everyone has boys, any girl is an anomaly and usually comes in a set of fraternal twins. Like my mother but I guess us Solos can just make a single girl baby” He grimaced

“But, how do you know? You weren’t there with me, my scan doesn’t show me what the baby is?” She answered bemused, a frown settling on her face.

“The Dr sent me a copy of your scan, I asked them too” Her eyes widened at the admission, she didn’t think he had really kept up to date with the pregnancy. “I don’t think they thought anything of revealing the gender, probably thought we already knew. But when they mentioned she was a girl; I rang them to confirm what they had seen”

She looked up at him, still confused. She went to grab her handbag where she kept the scan photo she had been given. Ben had beaten her too it and produced his own scan from the wallet in his back pocket. He pushed it into her hands.

It was different to her scan; the baby had obviously moved position for his scan and she could see that he had been telling the truth. “Oh” She gasped “How did that happen?”

She knew it was stupid question and when he quipped that they had both been there she usually would have bitten back at him but right now she was too shocked to answer him.

She couldn’t speak, it was all becoming increasingly clear of what Ben was losing just by being with her. He had gambled on her and a son and she couldn’t do that and now he was going to lose the one thing he was going to get from the deal. He hadn’t wanted any of this and now he would be stuck with her, and her two daughters.

“I’m so so sorry Ben” She hiccupped

“Why are you apologising?” He asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

“I’ve cost you your island” She whispered again, not really listening to him, just looking forlornly down at the scan picture.

He bent down next to her for the second time “Do I look like I need sympathy?” He tipped her chin to look him in the face “Please look at me Rey” 

When she looked up, she saw a sincere smile on his face, his eyes weren’t miserable, they shone. He looked so handsome. She gulped, shocked at where her mind had gone after seeing the genuine joy on his face. How could she be thinking like that at a moment like this?

“I’m not going to lie, I’m quite happy that I’m the first in my family to have a girl by herself. Its special” He admitted sheepishly “I’m also happy that she gives me a reason to break the deal with your father and get him out of our lives” He added soberly.

“He’s not out of mine and Jades life though is he” She reminded him

“He will be soon” He promised her

“He will come after her you know and then he will come after you” Rey breathed to him, tension flooding her voice.

“I’m counting on it” He told her gravely, he stood up and positioned himself on the bed next to her “Trust me, Jade is safe here. With her in my care he can’t touch her or you. I know this for a fact and when he comes for her, I’ll make sure he knows it too” He rested his arm behind her, pulling her body slightly closer to him.

Rey wished she could believe him, wished that she didn’t know how ruthless her father truly could be. She shuddered. She was terrified.

Outside of her window the sound of laughter floated up and the shrieks of an excited little girl. Jade was happy and a sob broke from Rey.

Ben turned her to face him on the bed and looked deep into her eyes “No one will ever take that laughter from her. I promise you from the depths of my soul, she will be safe”

Her lip trembled, her breathing became erratic and the tears started to fall. Ben looked at her softly and trembled “You are so vulnerable sometimes, my heart aches just looking at you”

She looked at him then, understanding that her vulnerability was also his. “Ben” She whispered again, in the next moment she had moved from sitting beside him to straddling his hips on the bed. Burying her face in his neck she wrapped her arms around his back, after a second she felt him pull her closer still, brushing her hair from her neck.

“You aren’t alone” He whispered in her ear.

“Neither are you” She pulled back, with tears still fresh on her cheeks she leaned into him and placed her lips on his own. And how they got from there, to being a tangle of hot limbs in bed she doesn’t know. Just that she was happy and content and for now she felt safe.

She had felt the change when their bodies had come together, there were no barriers, the change was radical and she couldn’t even hate him for the way she reacted to how he made her feel.

“I adore you Rey” He whispered against her mouth as they broke from a kiss “You crept into my heart; I didn’t see it coming. I couldn’t have stopped it; you fill my heart and soul. I can’t take a single breath without the feeling of my heart beating for you.”

“I know the feeling” She understood what he was saying, because she felt that way too “I love you so much, it hurts me so much to admit that. After everything, I can’t hide it, I’m in love with you”

She felt him tense and he looked like a man that had been shot straight through the chest. He stopped breathing, his hands tightening around her. “Say that again” he pleaded hoarsely.

She brought her hands to his cheeks, looked deep into his eyes making sure he could see into her soul for her admission. “I Love you Ben. I’ve loved you for the longest time”

He closed his eyes, bringing his mouth to hers to catch the soft words. He asked to her repeat them again and again as they moved together, both of them whispering adorations into each other’s ears. Their words grazing over bare skin, followed closely by tender touches. It was strange, they had spent all this time thinking they hated each other but their passion had always been able to see through it.

“This is it for me Rey” Ben murmured lazily as they lay tangled together, his hand rested upon her bump “I wont ever let you go. You are mine”

“As you are mine.” She smiled

“I am, forever” He soothed “We need…” He was interrupted by a sharp knock to the door.

“Ben” Poe’s stern voice travelled through the wood “Snoke is on the phone, I think you better come to the office”

“Well?” Rey asked anxiously, she had been waiting in her bedroom as Ben had asked but her patience ran thin and now, she was hovering in the doorway to Bens study whilst he leant on his desk looking at the laptop in front of him broodingly.

He was dressed in the same clothes she had taken off him earlier, but whilst waiting for news she had managed to shower and change into soft leggings and a t-shirt.

He glanced up at her and smiled, a soft but brief smile. “He is on a plane now” He told her plainly.

She tried to hide it but she shivered, “When will he get here?” She stuttered out.

Ben moved from his side of the desk and beckoned Rey into his arms. “He won’t get here until tomorrow at the earliest, the airport doesn’t allow incoming traffic after dark. So, it’s likely he will land at the larger airport but it will be too late to get a car here until the morning”

“What if he brings the police Ben?” she whispered, scared.

“He’s not going to do that” He answered her as though completely certain of his statement. Smugness radiated from him.

She wanted to believe him, her heart was begging her too, but she knew her father and it wasn’t that easy “But Ben…”

He turned her face up to his and matched her gaze “You will not worry about this Rey; I know what I am doing” he commanded

His face was imploring her to trust him, and her whole body wanted too because she knew it wasn’t Ben she didn’t trust it was her father. “I’m going to go and find Jade” She murmured walking away solemnly.

He didn’t attempt to stop her which did nothing to alleviate her anxiety. She had to put all her effort into schooling her face and lifting her mood as she explored the grounds with her little girl. Jade was bubbling with excitement whilst wondering through the new paradise she was going to call home.

“You’ve got to believe in him” Finn whispered to her quietly when he caught her staring white faced out of the bathroom window. Jade was happily splashing away behind her in a bubble laden bath. “Ben is amazingly efficient when he sets his mind to something and you are completely at the top of his list”

“He lost his island because of me, Finn” Rey smiled bleakly

“Ah, but that doesn’t really change anything does it? It was the old dream or the new one and the new one won. It would every single time.” Finn said softly “He wouldn’t have given up the island for any other reason Rey, I promise you. He’s extremely patient and if push came to shove, he could have kept you pregnant and barefoot until you produced the heir your father needed for us to get the island back, but he won’t. Not now”

Jade interrupted just then, with a laugh and the sound of water splashing heavily onto the floor. She had jumped out of the bath and Rey dove to wrap her in a towel before she giddily escaped the bathroom. Rey tried to hide her concern so she could keep the little girl oblivious to any potential upset.

The call came early the next morning that Reginald Snoke was landing at the airport soon and would be making his way straight to the house. Everyone had been sat eating breakfast trying to not let on to the little girl that something was amiss.

When Ben finally took the call on his mobile, Rey sighed with relief. Something was finally going to happen and though she was terrified she couldn’t stand the waiting any longer.

“Right,” He said briskly “Showtime” He sounded so invigorated by what was to come that Rey wanted to hit him. “Finn, weren’t you going to show Jade and Rey the art studio in the barn” HE prompted smoothly

“Oh yes I was” Finn jumped straight to it as though he was a puppet on a string “Its going to be so much fun, Jade wait until you see all the paints we have. There are so many colours we can paint a million rainbows” He jumped up and dragged Jade up with him. The child followed eagerly already chattering excitedly about making a picture for everyone. “Rey?”

“I’ll be there in a second Finn” She said turning anxiously towards Ben as Finn nodded and walked away. “Tell me what the plan is, please” She begged.

“Later” He promised “For now I want you all out of the sight of your father”

“But...”

That was as far as she got before Ben Barked out “No!” He turned angrily towards her “For once please just do as you are told, I don’t want him anywhere near you, just go Rey. Or so help me I will make you!”

Her must have known instantly that was the wrong thing to say because his eyes darkened ad his shoulders tensed as Rey lifted her chin in challenge. The old Rey was back rising from the ashes and spitting defiance. “I see, back to purgatory it is” She said cuttingly

“He’s at the gates” Poe added tensely from the door.

“Damn it Rey” He jumped up and lunged towards her. He picked her up and she found herself cradled in his arms as he carried her upstairs. His face carved from granite and his breath coming out frustratedly.

He dumped her on the bed “Stay!” He commanded and then left the room as angrily as he entered it.

She did as she was told, she stayed put and didn’t move. Not when she heard gravel crunching on the drive, nor when she heard the front door open and close. She stayed put when nausea rolled through her at the sound of her father’s voice and when footsteps echoed across the downstairs.

The whole house went silent then and that’s when the limit to her staying power ended because she couldn’t bare to not hear what was being said. She stood up stiff limbed, jaw aching with tension and took shaky steps towards the stairs. 

As she moved down the stairway, she could see that the office door was half way open and hear words being hurled waspily from her father to her husband.

Before she could stop herself, she found herself stalking silently to the office door.

“I don’t know what you think your damned well playing at Solo” She heard her father shout angrily as she approached “but you aren’t going to get away with it”

“Get away with what?” Ben answered blandly.

“You know what I’m talking about” Her father grated.

Rey was able to see into the door and she could see her father. She went perfectly still; his back was towards her but she didn’t dare move. He was pulsing with barely contained fury, thankfully for once not directed at her but at her husband instead, she could see Ben sat across the desk. He looked supremely at ease, lazing back in his chair, looking at her father impassively.

However, what struck her hardest was Poe, he was stood just behind his brother and so far, she didn’t think he had spoken. 

Her eyes had widened at the image in front of her and the parallels it showed between now and the meeting that had started this. But now her father didn’t have the power. The roles had been reversed and Poe was the there to just be a witness to it all. To stand silently as one party fumed incredulously and the other revelled in it. She had played that role back in her father office and she knew the stance well.

She knew without much thought that it had been deliberate, a setup to completely disarm Reginald Snoke of his pride, the same way he had done so to Ben those many months ago.

Rey shivered; she wasn’t sure she liked seeing Ben display this level of ruthlessness.

“All I know” She heard Ben Reply “Is that you’ve been standing there hurling accusation and threats but you have yet to tell me what exactly you are angry about Snoke”

“Don’t play bloody games with me” Her father choked out “You’ve broken our deal, you cheating bastard. And to top that off you have abducted my youngest daughter. I want her back this moment otherwise I will be calling the police and getting you arrested for abduction”

“The telephone sits right there, by all means” Ben invited “Call the police if you feel that strongly about it, but let me warn you they will require proof of your claim. You have brought proof, I presume?” He asked silkily

Silence. It washed over the room, choking the atmosphere. Reys spine tingled and her breath halted in her chest. She fixed her eyes on her father waiting for him to produce the proof she knew he had.

But… He didn’t move. He provided nothing, didn’t even move. The silence only thickened. Then Ben broke it.

“Is there a problem with that?” He enquired smoothly

“We don’t need to get the police involved. We just need to be sensible” Her father answered irritably

“Sensible, yes, I think we can be sensible” He repeated calmly “Why don’t you show me your proof and then I will hand Jade over with no more argument”

Reys blood froze. HE wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Betrayal clouded her eyes and she took a step forward. Her face pale, her eyes clashed with the dark ones of her husband. He had finally spotted her and she stopped moving.

His eyes sparked at her and seemed to be pleading with her to not move. To not interrupt and to trust him.

Trust him! She didn’t know what to do. She gripped the polished doorknob and her mind screamed, Trust him. Trust him or lose him. He won’t forgive you for this! She breathed deeply and decided not to move any further. She could trust him; her heart knew that.

“I keep that kind of stuff with my lawyers” Her father snapped “I don’t have it on me”

Rey lost Bens attention then and he glanced back to her father. “That’s not a problem, I possess all usual means of communication” He pointed to his desk. “You can call, email, fax them, your choice really and then all this unpleasantness can be over”

He even held the receiver up to her father for added effect. His body was relaxed and he seemed completely passive. He didn’t flicker a glance at Rey again. But her father stiffened, remaining silent.

She jumped harshly when the phone receiver was slammed back down “No!” Ben shot “You can’t do that can you, because you don’t have proof”

He picked something off the desk and threw it towards her father.

“There was never any official adoption, you conned Rey into believing she was signing away all rights to her daughter” He bit out “When in actual fact what she did sign isn’t worth the damned piece of paper it’s written on”

Her father kept his face down looking at whatever was now in his hands, she looked closer to what it was and noticed the tell-tale colour of the file she once kept in her documents It was her own copy of the adoption file, she had signed when Jade had been born. Her stomach dropped at the sickeningly familiar sight.

“She did sign it though” Snoke hit back jeeringly “She was only too happy to eagerly hand over the bastard child to me”

Rey had to close a hand over her mouth to stop the gasp of indignation escaping. He father wasn’t even bothering to deny his part in it.

“Or be out on the streets with a new-born as you so charitably put it at the time” Ben seethed “You played on her youth, her vulnerability and her inability to tell what a legal document actually was” He went on scathingly “You did it with such cold hearted cruelty that she must be truly happy to know that you aren’t her actual father”

“I beg your pardon” Snoke jerked out

“Oh, does this come as a surprise to you?” Ben lay three pieces of paper out on the desk “Your blood group…” He pointed to the first piece and then to the next two “Samuel Palpatine’s group and thankfully my wife’s” He leaned forward “Do you notice the odd one out?” He asked bitingly

“Any questions?” He asked again, bolder “No, I didn’t think so. Because you already knew this didn’t you? Which is why you’ve been punishing her all these years” He leaned back in his chair “Well it ends now” His face full of contempt for the man in front of him “You are no longer welcome here”

“What’s the matter with you man?” Reginald Snoke blustered in frustration. Rey could tell he was trying to figure out what had gone wrong in his calculating. He was at a loss. “If I am prepared to accept Rey as my daughter, then the island is yours on the birth of my grandson. You get what you want!”

“But Rey isn’t carrying your grandson, she is carrying my daughter” Ben contradicted coolly.

“What?” He laughed Snidely “She couldn’t even get that right?”

The dark eyes of her husband got darker and he looked more dangerous than she had ever seen him.

“Watch what you say Snoke” He warned “This is my house and that is my wife you are insulting”

“A wife you didn’t want in the first place” HE jeered “But if you’ve decided to claim her then be sensible, there will be more children. Sons. Just give me back Jade and Rey will be as compliant as we need. She will do whatever we want and you can get your island back” He offered covetously

“You can keep the island” Ben responded smoothly “I have no desire to step foot on it again to be honest and quite frankly there is nothing you have now which I haven’t already taken from you. In fact, as far as myself and my family are concerned you are now defunct. So, as you once so eloquently put it, the door Mr Snoke is over there” He added coldly

“But...!”

“Get him out of here” Ben grated out at Poe; his face taut with disgust.

Having no real wish to set eyes on Reginald Snoke again or stick around, Rey hurried quickly up the stairs.

She was standing by the bedroom window when Ben came looking for her.

“I hope you are happy with yourself” He asked in a clipped tone

“Not really” She responded apologetically. She turned to face him with a soft beseeching smile, he still looked angry and his skin was paler than it should have been. “I nearly blew that for you. I’m so sorry” She admitted

“Why did you come down? I asked you not to”

“I don’t know” She shrugged “I just couldn’t see how you could make him give up Jade, it was a compulsion to protect her. I couldn’t help it” 

“And in return, for your lack of trust you learned so much more than you ever wanted to?” He asked sympathetically.

Her eyes flashed “I learned you had the cheek to go through my private papers” She hit back indignantly.

“Ah” He tipped his head and at least had the grace to look guilty. Any anger he held faded from him, and he slid his arms slowly around her waist. “I was so in love with a woman who refused to trust me, to open up to me that I had to get creative” He murmured in his defence “Forgive me?”

He nuzzled into her neck, his breath caressing her skin. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive him for all of this. “When did you even go through my private papers?” She demanded

He lifted his head and she saw the rueful smile “I came straight here after leaving you at my brothers, initially I wanted to see if there was a legal way we could get you out of this deal” He admitted “But then I saw the paperwork and realised that it wasn’t worth the money it had cost to print. It wasn’t legal” He sighed angrily “I just needed to confirm it with my lawyers, before I dared to do anything. You had signed it Tesoro, and I wanted to make sure he couldn’t take action against you” He added gently “They advised me that if you had stayed in coruscant he could have made Jade a ward of the city and it would have kept you there”

“He would have used that to blackmail us further” She nodded understandingly

“I needed to get you both here out of the country. It was safer”

“So, you kidnapped us” She screeched

“Yes” He sighed “I’m sorry, I had to do it this way. I didn’t mean to frighten you”

Frighten her! He’d put her through hell. The last twenty-four hours had been rife with uncertainty. 

“You are as underhanded and as cunning as Snoke” She said accusingly “Do you know that?”

“I love you madly” HE answered coaxingly “I wouldn’t hurt a hair on your head”

Rey hid her smile at the blatant bit of seduction and turned her back on him, though didn’t remove herself from his arms.

Fortunately, Ben was not going to stop his verbal seduction “I adore you Rey” He whispered across the back of her neck, his hand moving up to her neck. Skimming her body as it traced higher “I ache for you, I need you. Night and day, I crave you. I am so badly bitten”

She hummed “I guess that is why you keep a mistress I suppose” sarcasm lacing her words.

As a mood killer, it worked like a charm and he raised his head. “Ah” he said ruefully once more “You are still after a pound of flesh it seems?”

Just a pound? Ha she thought to herself. Ben solo I want it all. “Oh yes, I am sorry. I am contracted not to mention her, aren’t I? Silly me!” She feigned contrition.

Ben laughed; he was obviously not fooled for one second by her tone. His arms tightened around her and he moved his mouth to her ear. “There isn’t a mistress, there never was. There was only ever you from the night I lay eyes on you. You had captured me. I was instantly yours and there hasn’t been another woman since. But I think you may already know that” He supposed drily.

Rey smiled “Perhaps Finn did mention something along those lines” She confessed and arched her back to give him better access to her “I just wanted to hear you say it”

“I’m going to rip that contract up, burn it….” He answered fiercely

“Good” She whispered approvingly 

“I’ll make you sign another, that binds us together for life” he added

She sighed happily but couldn’t resist prodding “What makes you think I would sign it?”

His mouth moved to her throat; she knew he could probably feel her pulse racing erratically. “I have my ways Tesoro”

He laughed throatily as she reacted to his teasing. Gasping as he licked at the points of her neck, he knew so well. Her body responded in kind, throbbing and aching for him.

They were interrupted by a sound from outside.

Glancing out of the window, she caught sight of Jade running around the grass laughing so joyously as Poe chased her. Finn Was behind them carrying what she assumed was swimming gear as they were all dressed in costumes heading towards the pond.

“They are wrapped around her little finger” She said softly into the room.

“I know the feeling” He answered heavily “Her mother has me the exact same way”

Rey smiled and lifted her gaze from the small party, looking out towards the sea. “I’m so sorry we cost you the island Ben. It was your vision, your promise”

It took him awhile to answer, at first, she had felt him stiffen but he relaxed again quickly.

“I think my mother would understand.” No sign of regret in his voice “She k new what family truly meant and I think she would have been proud of the choices I’ve made”

“But still” she whispered sadly “You had to break your promise to a loving mother for my scheming horrid father and for that I will never not be sorry”

“I’m not sorry Rey. I have you” He dipped his hands lower and splayed his hands across her abdomen possessively “I have our daughter inside of you and a miniature version of you who I couldn’t stop loving even if I tried. I am happy and content” 

She leaned back into him and felt his hands graze lower “That contentment is going to get you thrown out of a window if your hands go much lower” She smirked turning her head to look at him.

He laughed, deeply and happily, turning her in his arms. “I Love you, now and forever. You have turned my world upside down and I’m not sorry for a single second of it” He whispered as his head drew closer.

Tears sprung to her eyes and her body lit up with the feeling of truly being home. She raised her arms and placed her hands around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. “I love you”

They looked at each other, mere centimetres apart, that was all it took. Their bodies fused together, as did their mouths and they were lost to each other.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, any glaring errors in grammar, spelling, or continuity then please let me know. Kudos and Comments are always welcome :)


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